Florentino Floro

Infobox Person
name = Florentino V. Floro, Jr.

---

caption = Judge Florentino V. Floro, Jr.
birth_date = birth date and age|1953|11|5
birth_place = Manila
known_for = Psychic judge
nationality = Filipino

Florentino V. Floro, Jr. (born November 5 1953 in Manila) is a Filipino judge who achieved notoriety after being suspended from the Philippine judiciary in 2006 due to mental illness. Floro made several statements that he was psychic and claimed to frequently communicate with invisible dwarves.

Judicial career

Florentino Floro graduated with second honors from the Ateneo de Manila University law school and placed 12th in the 1983 bar examinations with a grade of 87.55 percent.cite news |last=Nocum |first=Armand |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=13683 |title=Dismissed judge, elfin pals claim immortality |publisher=Inquirer.net |date=2006-08-06 |accessdate=2008-08-01]

Floro first applied for appointment to the bench in 1995.cite news |last=Pannick |first=David |url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/columnists/david_pannick/article671074.ece |title=I used to be a judge but I'm all right now... |publisher=The Times |date=2006-06-06 |accessdate=2007-07-01] He failed the mandatory psychological examination by the Supreme Court Clinic Services which found "evidence of ego disintegration" and "developing psychotic process", and Floro voluntarily withdrew his application. He reapplied in 1998, and the evaluation was again negative, identifying problems with self-esteem, mood swings, and perceptual distortions. However, because of his impressive academic background, Floro was allowed to seek a second opinion from private practitioners, who gave a more favorable assessment. [http://www.supremecourt.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2006/mar2006/A.M.%20No.%20RTJ-99-1460.htm#_ftn154 SC decision relieving Floro, March 2006] ] He was appointed to the bench in November 1998, serving as a judge of the Regional Trial Court in Malabon City.

Floro's behavior as a judge was considered unorthodox. He claimed that he was "the number five psychic in the country", and that he was an "angel of death" able to cause pain and sickness to people who appeared before him in court. Court proceedings included a reading from the Bible, after which he would answer questions on the day's scriptures. On Fridays, he changed the color of his robes from blue to black "to recharge his psychic powers". He claimed to be able to write while in a trance, and to have the ability of bilocation. He explained that he took legal advice from three invisible dwarves named Luis, Armand and Angel.

uspension

Less than eight months after his appointment, the court began proceedings to remove Floro from his position. Floro successfully delayed the procedure for three years before a unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of the Philippines suspended him from the judiciary. As part of the investigation, Floro confessed he had conducted healing sessions in his chambers during breaks. The court separated him from judicial service with payment of three years' back wages and a fine of 40,000 pesos. The court said that, while it was not within its area of responsibility to declare Floro insane, it agreed with the results of psychological testing which had identified Floro as suffering from psychosis.

Appeal

Floro appealed the court's ruling against him, though the court upheld his suspension, saying that permitting him to continue as a judge would be harmful to public trust in the judiciary as a guardian of the law, as judges were expected to resolve cases before them with judicial detachment. It further stressed that its decision had nothing to do with Floro's belief in invisible dwarves or the validity of such a belief. It finally ruled that Floro's claimed dalliance with "duendes" would eventually make the judiciary an object of ridicule.cite news |last= |first= |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5261856.stm |title=Filipino 'dwarf' judge loses case |publisher=BBC News |date=2006-08-18 |accessdate=2007-07-01] [cite news | url = http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=15519 | title = No happy ending in tale of judge and 3 dwarves | first = Armand | last = Nocum | date = 2006-08-16 | publisher = Inquirer.net | accessdate = 2007-07-31] [ [http://www.supremecourt.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2006/august2006/A.M.%20No.%20RTJ-99-1460.htm The Denial Resolution of Judge Floro's Appeal, August, 2006] ]

On July 12, 2007, the Philippines Supreme Court Justices ordered Floro to stop requesting a review of his case, denying and expunging the petitions and letters filed by Floro with a warning that he can be held liable for indirect contempt should he persist in disregarding lawful orders of the Court. [cite news | url = http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/topstories/topstories/view_article.php?article_id=77335 | title = SC TELLS 'MYSTIC JUDGE': Stop filing appeals or be cited in contempt | first = Tetch | last = Torres | date = 2007-07-18 | accessdate = 2007-07-31| publisher = Inquirer.net] [ [http://www.supremecourt.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2007/july2007/RTJ-99-1460.htm The Per Curiam Resolution, July 12, 2007] ]

In late July, Floro filed a disbarment complaint with charges of gross misconduct, ignorance of the law, manifest undue interest, questionable temporary restraining orders and violations of the ethical standards and code of conduct of the Philippines Supreme Court Justices. [cite news | url = http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/july/30/yehey/metro/20070730met1.html | title = SC to probe TRO fixers, justices in appeals court | date = 2007-07-30 | accessdate = 2007-07-31 | first = Jomar | last = Canlas | publisher = Manila Times] Floro named one justice specifically as part of a "dirty dozen", twelve judges currently under investigation for corruption by the court's ombudsman. [cite news | url = http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/apr/23/yehey/top_stories/20070423top1.html | title = Ex-judge charges CA 'Dirty Dozen' | date = 2007-07-30 | publisher = Manila Times | first =Jomar | last = Canlas | accessdate = 2007-07-31]

References