A MALABON regional trial court judge who claims to have psychic powers and dwarves as friends has been relieved by the Supreme Court for being mentally unfit.

In a 72-page decision penned by Associate Justice Minita Chico-Nazario, the tribunal unanimously found Judge Florentino Floro, presiding judge of Malabon RTC-branch 73, guilty of seven of 13 administrative charges lodged by the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA).

Floro was also ordered to pay P40,000 as penalty, but the high court said he is entitled to back salaries, allowances and other economic benefits corresponding to three years.

Floro was allowed to work in any other public office.

The tribunal said Floro’s separation from the service cannot be considered a penalty and it does not necessarily mean that he is disqualified from appointment to any other public office including government-owned or controlled corporations.

The high court also said it is not within its authority to conclude that Floro is “insane” but agreed with the Court clinic’s findings that Floro is suffering from “psychosis.”

It said the administrative charges against Floro are “extricably linked” to his mental condition.

“It could very well be that Judge Floro’s current administrative and medical problems are not totally of his making. He was duly appointed to judgeship and his mental problems, for now, appear to render him unfit with the delicate task of dispensing justice not because of any acts of corruption and debasement on his part but clearly due to a medically disabling condition,” the SC said.

The OCA findings said Floro proclaims himself to be endowed with psychic powers, that he can inflict pain and sickness on people and that he is the angel of death in determining his fitness to remain in office.

Floro admitted he believes in “psychic visions” of foreseeing the future and confessed to having made a covenant with his “dwarf friends” whom he named as “Armand,” “Luis,” and “Angel,” the OCA said.

He also admitted conducting healing sessions in his chamber during his break time, while boasting of his ability to write while in a trance and to be in two places at the same time, which he claimed can be attested to by some people.

“Psychic phenomena, even assuming such exist, have no place in a judiciary duty bound to apply only positive law and, in its absence, equitable rules and principles in resolving controversies,” the SC said.

Of all the administrative charges filed against Floro, the court said there is no indication that he is anything but an honorable man, such that he has not been found guilty of gross misconduct or acts of corruption.

“However, the findings of psychosis by the mental health professionals assigned to his case indicate gross deficiency in competence and independence,” the Court said.

Among the offenses lodged against Floro were violations of the Canons of Judicial Conduct for announcing his qualifications prior to court sessions and circulating calling cards containing “self-laudatory statements.”

Judges should not use the courtroom as platform for announcing their qualifications, especially to an audience of lawyers and litigants who very well might interpret such publicity as a sign of insecurity, the SC said.

Before Floro started a court session, he was introduced as a private law practitioner, a graduate of Ateneo de Manila University with second honors, and a bar topnotcher in the 1983 examinations with an average score of 87.55 percent.

After the introduction, there was a reading of the Holy Bible, particularly the Book of Revelation according to Saint John. People in the courtroom were given the opportunity to ask Floro questions on what has been read.

“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,” the SC said.

The Court also found the judge administratively liable for rendering resolutions without written orders and proceeding with the hearing of a motion for release on recognizance filed by an accused without the presence of a trial prosecutor and propounding questions in the form of examination of the custodian of the accused.

He was also found liable for misconduct for showing partiality in criminal cases where he declared he is pro-accused.