Florentino Torres

Torres was born on October 16, 1844 from a poor family in Santa Cruz, Manila. His father died in a ship mishap when he was still young; his mother, Luciana Santos–Torres, died during the cholera epidemic of 1882.[2]

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. 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.[2]

He was named as fiscal of the province of Matanzas, Cuba 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.[2]

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.[2] On June 17, 1901, he was appointed as an Associate Justice of the newly established Supreme Court of the Philippines. 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.[2]

Emilio Aguinaldo 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.[2]

Torres died of paralysis in Manila on April 29, 1927.[1][2]