Florentino Santos Torres (born Florentino Torres y Santos; October 16, 1844 – April 29, 1927) was as an

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines ( fil, Kasangguning Mahistrado ng Kataas-taasang Hukuman ng Pilipinas) is one of fifteen members of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, the highest court in the Philippines. The C ...

. Prior to his appointment as an Associate Justice, he was the first Filipino to be appointed as attorney-general. He had also served as a prosecuting attorney, a prosecutor and as a judge.

Early life

Torres was born on October 16, 1844 from a poor family in

Santa Cruz, Manila Santa Cruz is a district in the northern part of the City of Manila, Philippines, located on the right bank of the Pasig River near its mouth, bordered by the districts of Tondo, Binondo, Quiapo, and Sampaloc, as well as the areas of Grace P ...

. His father died in a ship mishap when he was still young; his mother, Luciana Santos–Torres, died during the

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemic of 1882.

Education and career

Torrest obtained his

Bachelor of Philosophy Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; la, Baccalaureus Philosophiae or ) is the title of an academic degree that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's ...

Colegio de San Juan de Letran The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, (transl: College of San Juan de Letran) also referred to by its acronym CSJL, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution owned and run by the friars of the Order of Preachers i ...

. He obtained his Bachelor of Canon Law and Bachelor of Civil Law at the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Miguel ...

in 1866 and 1868, respectively.

Marriage

Torres was married to Sabina Vergara with whom he had six children: Manuel, a prominent lawyer;

Luis Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

, former Justice of the Supreme Court;

Antonio Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

, a councilor and a former Chief of Police of Manila, Pilar, Alejandra and Rosita.

Career

He was admitted to the bar in 1871 and was immediately appointed as the prosecuting fiscal of the Court of First Instance in the judicial district of

Binondo, Manila Binondo () is a district in Manila and is referred to as the city's Chinatown. Its influence extends beyond to the places of Quiapo, Santa Cruz, San Nicolas and Tondo. It is the oldest Chinatown in the world, established in 1594 by the ...

. He had also served concurrently as the fiscal and the Secretary of the ''Relator de La Audiencia de Manila'' in the same judicial district from 1873 to 1879. He was named as fiscal of the province of

Matanzas Matanzas (Cuban ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas (Spanish ''Bahia de Matanzas''), east ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

but he decided to decline the position. He was appointed judge of the Court of First Instance of Ilocos Sur in 1888; he was later transferred to Pampanga in 1890. In 1892, he served as ''Teniente Fiscal de la Audiencia Territorial de Cebu'' and later as magistrate of the 'Audiencia de la Criminal de Cebu''. Torres was a sympathizer of the American civil government. Due to this, he was appointed as Attorney-General, the first Filipino to occupy such office. On June 17, 1901, he was appointed as an associate justice of the newly established Supreme Court of the Philippines by U.S. President

William Mckinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

. He held such position until his resignation on April 22, 1920. He resigned believing that he was bypassed, being the most senior, after Mapa succeeded Arellano as Chief Justice.

Political career

Emilio Aguinaldo Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (: March 22, 1869February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who is the youngest president of the Philippines (1899–1901) and is recognized as the first president of the Philippine ...

designated Torres to meet with American authorities for amicable adjustment of political interest of Filipino and American parties. However, the meeting did not achieve tangible results, but he was able to influence the Aguinaldo government from making more hostile acts against the occupying Americans. Torres joined the ''Pacificos'', a group who believed that independence could not be achieve through force. Later on, he became a member of a new political party called ''Partido Federal'' that aimed at the annexation of the Philippines as an American state.

Death

Torres died of paralysis in Manila on April 29, 1927.

Legacy

Florentino Torres High School Florentino Torres High School, commonly known as Torres High School (THS), is located in Gagalangin, Tondo, Manila, Philippines. It is one of the oldest public schools in Metro Manila. History Founded by James T. Burns in 1925, Florentino Torre ...

in Tondo, Manila was renamed after Torres in 1930.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Florentino 1844 births 1927 deaths Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines 19th-century Filipino judges People from Santa Cruz, Manila University of Santo Tomas alumni Colegio de San Juan de Letran alumni 20th-century Filipino judges