(1)

(a) Notary - A notary is a public officer whose duty is to attest the genuineness of any deed
or writing in order to render them available as evidence of the facts therein contained.
- He is a public functionary, authorized to receive all acts and contracts to which
parties wish to give the character of authenticity, attached to the act of public
authority, to secure their date, their preservation, and the delivery of copies.
- One whose duties generally are to protect bills of exchange, authenticate and
certify copies of documents and take acknowledgments of deeds and other
instruments administer oaths, etc. The acts of a notary are respected by the
custom of merchants and the law of nations. Their protest of a bill of exchange is
received as evidence in the courts of civilized countries. Except in cases of
protest of bills, the signature of a notary to an instrument going to a foreign
country should be authenticated by the consul or representative of that country.
(b) Notary Public - A notary public is “a public officer whose function is to attest and certify,
by his hand and official seal, certain classes of document, in order to give them credit
and authenticity in foreign jurisdictions; to take acknowledgments of deeds and other
conveyances, and certify the same; and to perform certain official acts, chiefly in
commercial matters, such as the protesting of notes and bills, and noting of foreign
drafts, and marine protests in cases of loss or damage.”

(2) Rule II

SECTION 1. Acknowledgment. - "Acknowledgment" refers to an act in which an

individual on a single occasion:

(a) appears in person before the notary public and presents an integrally complete
instrument or document;
(b) is attested to be personally known to the notary public or identified by the notary
public through competent evidence of identity as defined by these Rules; and
(c) represents to the notary public that the signature on the instrument or document was
voluntarily affixed by him for the purposes stated in the instrument or document,
declares that he has executed the instrument or document as his free and voluntary act
and deed, and, if he acts in a particular representative capacity, that he has the authority
to sign in that capacity.

SEC. 2. Affirmation or Oath. - The term "Affirmation" or "Oath" refers to an act in which
an individual on a single occasion:

(a) appears in person before the notary public;

(b) is personally known to the notary public or identified by the notary public through
competent evidence of identity as defined by these Rules; and
(c) avows under penalty of law to the whole truth of the contents of the instrument or
document.
 SEC. 5. Notarial Register. - "Notarial Register" refers to a permanently bound book with
numbered pages containing a chronological record of notarial acts performed by a
notary public.

SEC. 6. Jurat. - "Jurat" refers to an act in which an individual on a single occasion:

(a) appears in person before the notary public and presents an instrument or document;
(b) is personally known to the notary public or identified by the notary public through
competent evidence of identity as defined by these Rules;
(c) signs the instrument or document in the presence of the notary; and
(d) takes an oath or affirmation before the notary public as to such instrument or
document.

SEC. 8. Notarial Certificate. - "Notarial Certificate" refers to the part of, or attachment to,
a notarized instrument or document that is completed by the notary public, bears the
notary's signature and seal, and states the facts attested to by the notary public in a
particular notarization as provided for by these Rules.

SEC. 13. Official Seal or Seal. - "Official seal" or "Seal" refers to a device for affixing a
mark, image or impression on all papers officially signed by the notary public conforming
the requisites prescribed by these Rules.

SEC. 14. Signature Witnessing. -The term "signature witnessing" refers to a notarial act
in which an individual on a single occasion:

(a) appears in person before the notary public and presents an instrument or document;
(b) is personally known to the notary public or identified by the notary public through
competent evidence of identity as defined by these Rules; and
(c) signs the instrument or document in the presence of the notary public.

(3) Rule III

SECTION 1. Qualifications. - A notarial commission may be issued by an Executive

Judge to any qualified person who submits a petition in accordance with these Rules.
To be eligible for commissioning as notary public, the petitioner:

(1) must be a citizen of the Philippines;

(2) must be over twenty-one (21) years of age;
(3) must be a resident in the Philippines for at least one (1) year and maintains a regular
place of work or business in the city or province where the commission is to be issued;
(4) must be a member of the Philippine Bar in good standing with clearances from the
Office of the Bar Confidant of the Supreme Court and the Integrated Bar of the
Philippines; and
 (5) must not have been convicted in the first instance of any crime involving moral
turpitude.

(4) Rule IV

SEC. 2. Prohibitions. - (a) A notary public shall not perform a notarial act outside his
regular place of work or business; provided, however, that on certain exceptional
occasions or situations, a notarial act may be performed at the request of the parties in
the following sites located within his territorial jurisdiction:

(1) public offices, convention halls, and similar places where oaths of office may
be administered;
(2) public function areas in hotels and similar places for the signing of
instruments or documents requiring notarization;
(3) hospitals and other medical institutions where a party to an instrument or
document is confined for treatment; and
(4) any place where a party to an instrument or document requiring notarization
is under detention.

(b) A person shall not perform a notarial act if the person involved as signatory to the
instrument or document -

(1) is not in the notary's presence personally at the time of the notarization; and
(2) is not personally known to the notary public or otherwise identified by the
notary public through competent evidence of identity as defined by these Rules.

SEC. 3. Disqualifications. - A notary public is disqualified from performing a notarial act if

he:

(a) is a party to the instrument or document that is to be notarized;

(b) will receive, as a direct or indirect result, any commission, fee, advantage, right, title,
interest, cash, property, or other consideration, except as provided by these Rules and
by law; or
(c) is a spouse, common-law partner, ancestor, descendant, or relative by affinity or
consanguinity of the principal within the fourth civil degree.

(5) Rule XI

SECTION 1. Revocation and Administrative Sanctions. - (a) The Executive Judge shall
revoke a notarial commission for any ground on which an application for a commission
may be denied.

(b) In addition, the Executive Judge may revoke the commission of, or impose
appropriate administrative sanctions upon, any notary public who:
 (1) fails to keep a notarial register;
(2) fails to make the proper entry or entries in his notarial register concerning his
notarial acts;
(3) fails to send the copy of the entries to the Executive Judge within the first ten
(10) days of the month following;
(4) fails to affix to acknowledgments the date of expiration of his commission;
(5) fails to submit his notarial register, when filled, to the Executive Judge;
(6) fails to make his report, within a reasonable time, to the Executive Judge
concerning the performance of his duties, as may be required by the judge;
(7) fails to require the presence of a principal at the time of the notarial act;
(8) fails to identify a principal on the basis of personal knowledge or competent
evidence;
(9) executes a false or incomplete certificate under Section 5, Rule IV;
(10) knowingly performs or fails to perform any other act prohibited or mandated
by these Rules; and
(11) commits any other dereliction or act which in the judgment of the Executive
Judge constitutes good cause for revocation of commission or imposition of
administrative sanction.

(c) Upon verified complaint by an interested, affected or aggrieved person, the notary
public shall be required to file a verified answer to the complaint.

If the answer of the notary public is not satisfactory, the Executive Judge shall conduct a
summary hearing. If the allegations of the complaint are not proven, the complaint shall
be dismissed. If the charges are duly established, the Executive Judge shall impose the
appropriate administrative sanctions. In either case, the aggrieved party may appeal the
decision to the Supreme Court for review. Pending the appeal, an order imposing
disciplinary sanctions shall be immediately executory, unless otherwise ordered by the
Supreme Court.

(d) The Executive Judge may motu proprio initiate administrative proceedings against a
notary public, subject to the procedures prescribed in paragraph (c) above and impose
the appropriate administrative sanctions on the grounds mentioned in the preceding
paragraphs (a) and (b).

(6) Is form required for the validity of a contract?

Form is important when the law requires a document or other special form, such as
those mentioned in Article 1358 of the New Civil Code.

Article 1358. The following must appear in a public document:

 (1) Acts and contracts which have for their object the creation, transmission,
modification or extinguishment of real rights over immovable property; sales of real
property or of an interest therein are governed by articles 1403, No. 2, and 1405;
(2) The cession, repudiation or renunciation of hereditary rights or of those of the
conjugal partnership of gains;
(3) The power to administer property, or any other power which has for its object an act
appearing or which should appear in a public document, or should prejudice a third
person;
(4) The cession of actions or rights proceeding from an act appearing in a public
document.

All other contracts where the amount involved exceeds five hundred pesos must appear
in writing, even a private one. But sales of goods, chattels or things in action are
governed by articles, 1403, No. 2 and 1405. (1280a)

(7)

1. Article 1358. The following must appear in a public document:

(1) Acts and contracts which have for their object the creation, transmission, modification
or extinguishment of real rights over immovable property; sales of real property or of an
interest therein are governed by articles 1403, No. 2, and 1405;
(2) The cession, repudiation or renunciation of hereditary rights or of those of the
conjugal partnership of gains;
(3) The power to administer property, or any other power which has for its object an act
appearing or which should appear in a public document, or should prejudice a third
person;
(4) The cession of actions or rights proceeding from an act appearing in a public
document.

All other contracts where the amount involved exceeds five hundred pesos must appear
in writing, even a private one. But sales of goods, chattels or things in action are
governed by articles, 1403, No. 2 and 1405. (1280a)

2. Article 1403, paragraph 2.

(2) Those that do not comply with the Statute of Frauds as set forth in this number. In the
following cases an agreement hereafter made shall be unenforceable by action, unless
the same, or some note or memorandum, thereof, be in writing, and subscribed by the
party charged, or by his agent; evidence, therefore, of the agreement cannot be received
without the writing, or a secondary evidence of its contents:

(a) An agreement that by its terms is not to be performed within a year from the
making thereof;
 (b) A special promise to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage of another;
(c) An agreement made in consideration of marriage, other than a mutual
promise to marry;
(d) An agreement for the sale of goods, chattels or things in action, at a price not
less than five hundred pesos, unless the buyer accept and receive part of such
goods and chattels, or the evidences, or some of them, of such things in action or
pay at the time some part of the purchase money; but when a sale is made by
auction and entry is made by the auctioneer in his sales book, at the time of the
sale, of the amount and kind of property sold, terms of sale, price, names of the
purchasers and person on whose account the sale is made, it is a sufficient
memorandum;
(e) An agreement for the leasing for a longer period than one year, or for the sale
of real property or of an interest therein;
( f ) A representation as to the credit of a third person.

3. Article 1405. Contracts infringing the Statute of Frauds, referred to in No. 2 of article
1403, are ratified by the failure to object to the presentation of oral evidence to prove the
same, or by the acceptance of benefit under them.

4. Article 749. In order that the donation of an immovable may be valid, it must be made in
a public document, specifying therein the property donated and the value of the charges
which the donee must satisfy.

The acceptance may be made in the same deed of donation or in a separate public
document, but it shall not take effect unless it is done during the lifetime of the donor.

If the acceptance is made in a separate instrument, the donor shall be notified thereof in
an authentic form, and this step shall be noted in both instruments. (633)

5. Article 2096. A pledge shall not take effect against third persons if a description of the
thing pledged and the date of the pledge do not appear in a public instrument. (1865a)

(8) Distinguish:

1. Jurat and Acknowledgment

- A jurat is that part of an affidavit in which the officer certifies that the instrument
was sworn to before him. It is not part of the affidavit. A jurat should be used only
in the affidavits, sworn statements, certifications, verifications and the like -
NEVER IN CONTRACTS. (Form, pp 36, Suarez)
- Acknowledgment is the formal declaration of a person who executed an
instrument that it is his free and voluntary act and deed; that said person
appeared before the notary public at the place and on the date stated therein;
that he exhibited his community tax certificate and gave the number, date and
place of issuance of the same.
 2. Distinction between a Deed and a Will
- In order that an instrument may be operative as a deed, it should pass a present
interest, although it is not necessary that the grantee take[s] a present estate in
the property conveyed. A deed once executed and delivered is irrevocable in the
absence of reservation of the right to revoke. In the case of a testamentary
instrument, it operates only upon and by reason of the death of the maker.
During his lifetime, it is ambulatory and revocable.

(9) Simple Acknowledgment

Pp 37-38, Suarez

(10) Acknowledgment by Corporation

Pp 40, Suarez