Ex-Manila judge with dwarves as pals wants to be chief justice

MANILA – A former Metro Manila lower court judge, who was dismissed by the Supreme Court (SC) in 2006 for indulging in the occult like “mystic healing sessions” with dwarves, has applied for the position of SC chief justice.

He is Florentino Floro Junior, the former judge of the Regional Trial Court of suburban Malabon City in Metro Manila, based on records obtained from the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).

JBC records showed that Floro filed his applicaton for SC chief justice before the council closed the deadline on February 5 for the nomination of a successor to Chief Justice Reynato Puno who is to retire on May 17.

The same records indicated that Floro personally went to the council to file his application in sharp contrast to the other contenders who were nominated by other groups or individuals for the coveted position.

Under the 1986 Constitution, the JBC is mandated, among others, to accept, interview and screen nominees for vacant positions to the 15-member High Court, including the chief justice.

After the rigid screening and character check, the council is to submit to Malacanang a list of at least five nominees from whom the president is to choose to fill a vacant position.

A JBC source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, disclosed that Floro personally submitted his 20-page application to the council in which he described himself as a “visionary and a prophet.”

The source added that in his application, Floro wrote in the third person thus: “He has accurately predicted in writing the downfall of former president Joseph Estrada in 2001 and the heart surgery of former chief justice Hilario Davide in 2002,”

But more than that, as a visionary and prophet, Floro said he predicted accurately the November 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province, including 30 Mindanao-based journalists.

Floro created a stir when as a lower court judge in Malabon City, he admitted he indulged in healing sessions inside his chambers with three “mystic” dwarves whom he called as friends and counselors.

In 2006, the High Court ordered Floro’s dismissal for incompetence and bias as it pointed out that psychic phenomena has no place in the judiciary.

Moreover, the SC noted it had in its possession medical documents which showed that Floro was suffering from psychosis.

Meanwhile, the JBC source said the application of Floro has added “color” to the ongoing search for a successor to Reynado Puno as chief justice.

Puno has yet to retire on May 17, or exactly a week after the May 10 elections, but an administration congressman, a member of the JBC, wrote and formally asked the council in late December to start looking for a successor so President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo could appoint a “chief justice-in-waiting.”

This was opposed by some JBC members and other legal luminaries who questioned the haste in the selection process as they stressed Malacanang should just wait for the next president to appoint the new chief justice.

Other quarters also expressed suspicion that the President wants to name Puno’s successor so she could have an “Arroyo Supreme Court” to protect her from the civil and criminal suits, including plunder as well as graft and corruption, which will be filed once she steps down from Malacanang on June 30.

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