Misplaced Pages

Florentino Floro

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Maxschmelling (talk | contribs) at 18:48, 24 February 2009 (→Suspension: remove sneaky insertions of frivolous lawsuits floro has filed (they seem to exaggerate his influence on filipino history)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 18:48, 24 February 2009 by Maxschmelling (talk | contribs) (→Suspension: remove sneaky insertions of frivolous lawsuits floro has filed (they seem to exaggerate his influence on filipino history))(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Florentino V. Floro, Jr.
File:Judge Floro.jpgJudge Florentino V. Floro, Jr.
Born (1953-11-05) November 5, 1953 (age 71)
Manila
NationalityFilipino
Known forSelf-proclaimed psychic judge, dismissed by reason of mental illness

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.

Early life

Birth

Floro was born at the University of Santo Tomas Hospital in Manila, Philippines at 1:00 a.m., on November 5, 1953. He is the eldest of 5 children of Florentino Carreon Floro and Milagros Geronimo Velasquez. His brothers are Joselito, Benjamin, Jesie and Robert.

Education

Floro spent his childhood in Calvario, Meycauayan City, Bulacan. He was educated there by the Religious of the Virgin Mary, when he was sent to St. Mary's Academy of Meycauayan, where he graduated elementary education. In 1969, Floro completed his high school at St. Vincent's Seminary, in Karuhatan, Valenzuela City.

In 1970, Floro continued his studies at Adamson University and at the Vincentian Hills Seminary at Angono, Rizal and Adamson University, under the Vincentian Family / Congregation of the Mission priests. After having transferred to Ateneo de Manila University's Loyola Schools's, where he earned the Bachelor of Arts degre in philosophy and pre-divinity, on October, 1974.

In 1982, Floro graduated with full second honors and earned his Bachelor of Laws degree from the Ateneo Law School. He placed 12th in the 1983 Philippine Bar Examinations with a grade of 87.55 percent.

Entrance into lawyering and judicial practice

Floro first applied for appointment to the bench with the Judicial and Bar Council (Philippines) in 1995. 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 on his natal day of November 5, 1997, 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. He was appointed to the bench in November 1998, serving as a judge of the Regional Trial Court in Malabon City.

Floro was duly appointed Regional Trial Court Judge, NCJR, of Br. 73, Malabon City and Navotas, Metro Manila, on November 4/5, 1998, his 45th birthday, becoming the youngest RTC NCJR Judge.

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.

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.

Floro first applied for appointment to the bench in 1995. 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. 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.

Suspension

Barely 6 months from his inaugural session on January 5, 1999, Floro was suspended from the judiciary by the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He faced 13 charges, the principal of which, was consulting dwarves in writing judgments. As part of the investigation, Floro confessed he had conducted healing sessions in his chambers during breaks.

Judgment

On April 7, 2006, the Supreme Court of the Philippines separated Floro 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.

Appeals and lawsuits

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.

On August, 2006, the Court finally ruled that Floro's claimed dalliance with duendes would eventually make the judiciary an object of ridicule.

On November 3, 2006, Floro filed his second appeal and Imprecation motion to clean the judiciary. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported this as "‘Psychotic’ judge enlists help of dwarf-friends vs SC."

On December 5, 2006 Floro was awarded "Judge of the Year" by The Times - "A chilli-hot year for whiny garbage, David Pannick, QC, presides over the memorable legal appearances of 2006." Pannick, Queen's Counsel is a silk Barristers in England and Wales.

On January, 2007, the Supreme Court of the Philippines dismissed with finality the Augusst 30, 2006 landmark Disbarment administrative suit filed by Floro against Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr., Justice Bernardo P. Pardo, Alfredo Benipayo and 6 others.

For non-payment of docket fees, the High Court, on June 5, 2007, dismissed Floro's intervention petition dated May 30, 2007, and his Supplement dated June 1, 2007, in the Gregory S. Ong citizenship case, filed by Jovito Salonga.

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.

In late April, 2007, 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 Philippine Court of Appeals Associate Justices, "CA ‘Dirty Dozen". Floro named one justice specifically as part of a "dirty dozen", twelve judges currently under investigation for corruption by the court's ombudsman.

On First Friday, August 1, 2008, Floro filed a taxpayer lawsuit against some Court of Appeals Justices and lawyers in the GSIS-Meralco bribery case.

References

  1. "A.M. No. RTJ-99-1460, "OCAD v Judge Florentino Floro". Philippine Jurisprudence (lawphil.net). 2006-03-31. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  2. ^ Nocum, Armand (2006-08-06). "Dismissed judge, elfin pals claim immortality". Inquirer.net. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  3. ^ Pannick, David (2006-06-06). "I used to be a judge but I'm all right now..." The Times. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  4. ^ SC decision relieving Floro, March 2006
  5. Floro, Florentino (2009-02-21). "User:Florentino Floro". Wikinews. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  6. "A.M. No. RTJ-99-1460, "OCAD v Judge Florentino Floro". Philippine Jurisprudence (lawphil.net). 2006-03-31. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  7. Requejo, Rey (2006-04-07). "Judge relieved for psychosis". Manila Standard Today. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  8. Underhill, Kevin (2006-01-23). "Verified Third Supplement, Appeal". Kevin Underhill. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  9. "Filipino 'dwarf' judge loses case". BBC News. 2006-08-18. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  10. Nocum, Armand (2006-08-16). "No happy ending in tale of judge and 3 dwarves". Inquirer.net. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
  11. The Denial Resolution of Judge Floro's Appeal, August, 2006
  12. Torres, Tetch (2006-11-03). "'Psychotic' judge enlists help of dwarf-friends vs SC". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  13. Pannick, David (2006-12-05). "A chilli-hot year for whiny garbage". The Times. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  14. "NZ lawyer wins 'bizarre conduct' award". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2006-12-06. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  15. Canlas, Jomar (2007-01-20). "SC rebuffs judge who consults with 'dwarfs'". The Manila Times. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
  16. Canlas, Jomar (2007-06-11). "Palace lets SC decide Ong's fate". Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  17. Torres, Tetch (2007-07-18). "SC TELLS 'MYSTIC JUDGE': Stop filing appeals or be cited in contempt". Inquirer.net. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
  18. The Per Curiam Resolution, July 12, 2007
  19. Canlas, Jomar (2007-07-30). "SC to probe TRO fixers, justices in appeals court". Manila Times. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
  20. Canlas, Jomar (2007-07-30). "Ex-judge charges CA 'Dirty Dozen'". Manila Times. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
  21. Bordadora, Norman (2008-08-08). "Salonga: CA corruption exposé good for reforms". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
Categories: