Conscience of the nation

IT was the recently departed moral paragon, crusader for the truth and the rule of law, and former Times columnist Atty. Alan F. Paguia, who told me in one of our conversations that our paper had become the “conscience of the nation.”

Many of those who knew him saw a Christlike figure in Alan. He suffered from the Supreme Court’s decision in 2003 to suspend him from practicing his profession-- “indefinitely.” It was painful. For aside from his commitment to being a faithful practicing Catholic, a faith that he lived resolutely—as witnessed by members of his household, his colleagues and friends, Alan was also deeply devoted to his family, and through his profession, to the Filipino nation and our Republic. That is why his suspension of eight years was a moral torment, which he bore stoically as a good Christian should.