Manila: A Philippine judge who claims to possess supernatural powers, including the ability to see into the future, apparently hasn't mastered those forces to predict is his own fate, as he failed to foresee his own dismissal.
The judge allegedly claimed to have psychic powers and said he had made a covenant with "dwarf friends".
The Supreme Court said yesterday it sacked Judge Florentino Floro, who worked in the Manila suburb of Malabon, after psychiatric and psychological tests concluded he was not fit for the job.
Floro, who told a courtroom that he has psychic visions, also claimed he can appear in two places at once and is able to inflict pain on corrupt officials using his paranormal powers, the Supreme Court said in a statement.
It said Floro admitted he believes in duwendes, a Tagalog word that means mystic dwarfs, and that he has a convenant with his "dwarf friends Luis, Armand and Angel."
He also held "healing sessions" in his chambers and claimed he was so powerful he could perform his duties, including writing, while in a trance.
"His mental problems, for now, appear to render him unfit for 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 Supreme Court said in its decision.
Nonetheless, the psychological and psychiatric reports used to determine Floro's mental impairment do not disqualify him from re-entering government service, although he is barred from dispensing justice, the court said.
It said those reports found Floro to be equipped with analytical power and that his "character traits of suspiciousness, seclusiveness, preoccupation with paranormal and psychic phenomena... [are] not detrimental to his role as a lawyer."
The court began to investigate the judge in 1999 after an administrative court audit team recommended he be subjected to psychiatric examination after a complaint from the mother of a plaintiff.
