ACT No.

2103

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AUTHENTICATION OF

INSTRUMENTS AND DOCUMENTS WITHOUT THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Legislature, that:

Section 1. An instrument or document acknowledged and authenticated in any State, Territory, the
District of Columbia, or dependency of the United States, shall be considered authentic if the
acknowledgment and authentication are made in accordance with the following requirements:

(a) The acknowledgment shall be made before a notary public or an officer duly authorized
by law of the country to take acknowledgments of instruments or documents in the place
where the act is done. The notary public or the officer taking the acknowledgment shall
certify that the person acknowledging the instrument or document is known to him and that
he is the same person who executed it, and acknowledged that the same is his free act and
deed. The certificate shall be made under his official seal, if he is by law required to keep a
seal, and if not, his certificate shall so state.

(b) The certificate of the notary public or the officer taking the acknowledgment shall be
authenticated by the country clerk or his deputy, or by a clerk or deputy clerk of any court of
record of the county, municipality or judicial district wherein the acknowledgment is taken, or
by the secretary of state, executive secretary, or other similar functionary of the state,
territory, the District of Columbia, or dependency of the United States, as the case may be.
The officer making the authentication shall certify under the seal of his office or court that the
person who took the acknowledgment was at the time duly authorized to act as notary public
or that he was duly exercising the functions of the office by virtue of which he assumed to
act, and that as such he had authority under the law to take acknowledgment of instruments
or documents in the place where the acknowledgment was taken, and that his signature and
seal, if any, are genuine.

Section 2. An instrument or document acknowledged and authenticated in a foreign country shall be

considered authentic if the acknowledgment and authentication are made in accordance with the
following requirements:

(a) The acknowledgment shall be made before (1) an ambassador, minister, secretary of
legation, chargé d’affaires, consul, vice-consul, or consular agent of the United
States,1 acting within the country or place to which he is accredited, or (2) a notary public or
officer duly authorized by law of the country to take acknowledgments of instruments or
documents in the place where the act is done.

(b) The person taking the acknowledgment shall certify that the person acknowledging the
instrument or document is known to him, and that he is the same person who executed it,
and acknowledged that the same is his free act and deed. The certificate shall be under his
official seal, if he is by law required to keep a seal, and if not, his certificate shall so state. In
case the acknowledgment is made before a notary public or an officer mentioned in
subdivision (2) of the preceding paragraph, the certificate of the notary public or the officer
taking the acknowledgment shall be authenticated by an ambassador, minister, secretary of
legation, chargé d’affaires, consul, vice-consul, or consular agent of the United
States,2 acting within the country or place to which he is accredited. The officer making the
 authentication shall certify under his official seal that the person who took the
acknowledgment was at the time duly authorized to act as notary public or that he was duly
exercising the functions of the office by virtue of which he assumed to act, and that as such
he had authority under the law to take acknowledgment of instruments or documents in the
place where the acknowledgment was taken, and that his signature and seal, if any, are
genuine.

Section 3. Instruments or documents acknowledged and authenticated in substantial conformity with

the provisions of this Act before the same takes effect shall be considered authentic.

Section 4. This Act shall not be construed to repeal in any way any of the provisions contained in
Chapter X, Part I, of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety,3 entitled "An Act providing a code or
procedure in civil actions and special proceedings in the Philippine Islands."

Enacted, January 26, 1912.

RE: 2004 RULES ON NOTARIAL PRACTICE

En Banc

Sirs/Mesdames;

Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of this Court dated MAR. 21, 2006

A.M. No. 02-8-13-SC (Re: 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice)

The Court Resolved, upon the recommendation of the Committee on Legal Education and Bar
Matters and the Sub-Committee on Revision of Rules Governing Notaries Public, to DIRECT the
Printing Services to cause the immediate and expeditious printing of the notarial
books, removing or eliminating the tabs to hasten the printing. Quisumbing, J., on official leave.

Very truly yours,

This web page features the full text of

CIRCULAR NO. 1-90.
CIRCULAR NO. 1-90

TO: ALL JUDGES OF THE

METROPOLITAN TRIAL COURTS
(METC), MUNICIPAL TRIAL
COURTS IN CITIES (MTCC),
MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURTS
(MTC), MUNICIPAL CIRCUIT
TRIAL COURTS (MCTC) SHARI’A
COURTS AND THE INTEGRATED
BAR OF THE PHILIPPINES (IBP)
SUBJECT: POWER OF THE
MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURT
JUDGES AND MUNICIPAL
CIRCUIT TRIAL COURT JUDGES
TO ACT AS NOTARIES PUBLIC EX
OFFICIO.
For the information and guidance of
all concerned, quoted hereunder is
the Resolution of the Court En
Banc dated December 19, 1989, in
Administrative Matter No. 89-11-
1303 MTC, "Re: Request for
clarification on the power of
municipal trial court judges and
municipal circuit trial court judges to
act as Notaries Public Ex Officio";
"Acting on a query regarding the
power of municipal trial court judges
and municipal circuit trial court
judges to act in the capacity of
notaries public ex officio in the light
of the 1989 Code of Judicial
Conduct, the Court Resolved to issue
a clarification on the matter. cralaw

"Municipal Trial Court (MTC) and

Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC)
judges are empowered to perform
the function of Notaries Public ex
officio under Section 76 of Republic
Act No. 296, as amended [otherwise
known as the Judiciary Act of 1948]
and Section 242 of the Revised
Administrative Code. But the Court
hereby lays down the following
qualifications on the scope of this
power: chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary

"MTC and MCTC judges may act as

Notaries Public ex officio in the
notarization of documents connected
only with the exercise of their official
functions and duties [Borne v. Mayo,
Adm. Matter No. 1765-CFI, October
17, 1980. 100 SCRA 314; Penera v.
Dalocanog, Adm. Matter No. 2113-
MJ, April 22, 1981, 104 SCRA 193.]
They may not, as Notaries Public ex
officio, undertake the preparation
and acknowledgment of private
documents, contracts and other acts
of conveyances which bear no direct
relation to the performance of their
functions as judges. The 1989 Code
of Judicial Conduct not only enjoins
judges to regulate their extra-
judicial activities in order to
minimize the risk of conflict with
their judicial duties, but also
prohibits them from engaging in the
private practice of law [Canon 5 and
Rule 5.07].
"However, the Court taking judicial
notice of the fact that there are still
municipalities which have neither
lawyers nor notaries public, rules
that MTC and MCTC judges assigned
to municipalities or circuits with no
lawyers or notaries public may, in
the capacity as notaries public ex
officio, perform any act within the
competency of a regular notary
public: Provided, That: [1] all
notarial fees charged be for the
account of the Government and
turned over to the municipal
treasurer (Lapena, Jr. vs. Marcos,
Adm. Matter No. 1969-MJ, June 29,
1982, 114 SCRA 572); and [2]
certification be made in the
notarized documents attesting to the
lack of any lawyer or notary public in
such municipality or circuit."
Feliciano, J., is on leave

February 26, 1990.