16.

OCA vs Judge Floro (2006)

Facts:
Atty. Florentino V. Floro, Jr. applied for judgeship in 1995 and 1998 but the psychological exam reports
reveal that he was unfit to be a judge. JBC gave him a second chance because of his impressive academic
background. Atty. Floro sought second opinion from private practitioners. Eventually, he was appointed as RTC
Judge of Branch 73, Malabon City, on 4 November 1998.
Judge Floro requested that an audit be conducted by the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA). It
recommended that an administrative complaint on 13 charges be filed. The matter was referred to the OCA
Consultant, Retired Court of Appeals Justice Pedro Ramirez. Judge Floro was suspended in the meantime.
Throughout the investigation, Judge Floro had indiscriminately filed 7 cases against those he perceived to have
connived to boot him out of office. Later, Judge Floro himself moved to dismiss those cases.
The arguments of the OCA, show that the 13 charges are inextricably linked to the charge of
mental/psychological illness which renders Judge Floro unfit to continue discharging the functions of his office.
This being the case, we will consider the allegation that Judge Floro proclaims himself to be endowed with
psychic powers, that he can inflict pain and sickness to people, that he is the angel of death and that he has
unseen "little friends" in determining the transcendental issue of his mental/psychological fitness to remain in
office.
Issue:
Whether or not Judge Floro must be relieved of his position as Judge of RTC Malabon Branch due to a
medically disabling condition of the mind that renders him unfit to discharge the functions of his office
Ruling:
Yes. The following are the remarks of the Psychiatric Evaluation made by the SC Clinic.
“Atty. Floro was observed to be restless and very anxious… was argumentative and over solicitous of questions
asked. He centered on his academic excellence, an Ateneo de Manila graduate of the College of Law, rated top
13th place in the bar examination. He emphasized his obsessive and compulsive method of studying, at least
15 hours per day regardless of whether it was school days or vacation time. Vying for honors all the time and
graduated Law as second honor, he calls this self-discipline and self-organization. He expressed dissatisfaction
of his achievements, tend to be a perfectionist and cannot accept failures. To emphasize his ultra bright mind
and analytical system, he related that, for the past 3 to 5 years, he has been experiencing "Psychic vision"
every morning and that the biggest secret of the universe are the "unseen things." He can predict future
events because of "power in psychic phenomenon" as when his bar results was to be released, he saw lights in
the sky "no. 13-1," and he got the 13th place. He has been practicing "parapsychology" – seeing plenty of
"dwendes" around him. He can talk on and on of bizarre ideas, that tends to be irrelevant. Intellectually, he
has high assets, however, evidence of ego disintegration are prominent findings, both in the interview
(conscious) and psychological test results.”
A judge suffering from delusion or hallucination is unfit to be one. So is he who gets into a trance while
presiding at the hearing of a case in court. One need not be a doctor of medicine, a psychiatrist and a
psychologist to determine and conclude that a person in such circumstances is mentally unfit or insane and
should not be allowed to continue discharging the duties and functions of a judge. The life, liberty and
property of the litigants in the court presided by such judge are in his hands. Hence, it is imperative that he is
free from doubt as to his mental capacity and condition to continue discharging the functions of his office.
There is no indication that Judge Floro is anything but an honorable man. And, in fact, in our
disposition of the 13 charges against him, we have not found him guilty of gross misconduct or acts or
corruption. However, the findings of psychosis by the mental health professionals assigned to his case indicate
gross deficiency in competence and independence.
Lest we be misconstrued, we do not denigrate such belief system. However, such beliefs, especially
since Judge Floro acted on them, are so at odds with the critical and impartial thinking required of a judge
under our judicial system.
What is required on the part of judges is objectivity. An independent judiciary does not mean that
judges can resolve specific disputes entirely as they please. There are both implicit and explicit limits on the
way judges perform their role. Implicit limits include accepted legal values and the explicit limits are
substantive and procedural rules of law. Judge Floro does not meet such requirement of objectivity and his
competence for judicial tasks leaves much to be desired. Despite his impressive academic background and
achievements, he has lapses in judgment and may have problems with decision-making. His character traits
such as suspiciousness and seclusiveness and preoccupation with paranormal and psychic phenomena though
not detrimental to his role as a lawyer, may cloud his judgment, and hamper his primary role as a judge in
dispensing justice. x x x
In fine, Judge Floro lacks the judicial temperament and the fundamental requirements of competence
and objectivity expected of all judges. He cannot thus be allowed to continue as judge for to do so might result
in a serious challenge to the existence of a critical and impartial judiciary.
*Judge was relieved from his functions as RTC Judge.