[2] María Ángeles was born in 1884 in Cotabato, Maguindanao to Manuel Rodríguez de Rivera, an Infantry Colonel stationed in the Philippines, and Carolina Chicote Beltrán.

[4] Her family has strong religious roots and were daily churchgoers which influenced her younger sister to become a nun.

"[4] Her being an active president of the Catholic Action[1] and head catechist in their parish, and close friendship with the priest, José Vera Medialdea, earned her the hatred of Marxists.

[1][4] Buried in a common grave, María Ángeles' remains were later transferred to the crypt of the Cathedral of Málaga.

[4] On 27 September 2016, Bishop Jesús Esteban Catalá Ibáñez of Málaga opened her cause for beatification together with 67 other martyrs including Fr.