Chief state counsel Ricardo Paras III dies

Chief state counsel Ricardo Paras III died on Sunday morning, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said.

“We mourn the the sudden demise of Chief state counsel Ricardo ‘Dickie’ Paras III this morning. We ask the pious members of the DOJ family to pray for the eternal repose of his soul,” the DOJ said in a statement.

The cause of Paras’ death and details of the funeral arrangements were not mentioned in the statement.

“Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II and the whole DOJ condole with the bereaved family of Chief Paras,” it added.

Paras previously served as assistant justice secretary and undersecretary; he also applied for vacancies in Supreme Court and the antigraft court Sandiganbayan.

As chief state counsel, he was concurrent head of the DOJ refugee and stateless persons protection unit.

He got his law degree at Ateneo de Manila University-College of Law in 1982 and passed the bar the same year.

Paras was married to Atty. Nimfa L. Perez-Paras.

Their only child,  Erika Bianca, is taking up the Juris Doctor program at Ateneo de Manila University. —Jerome Aning