Title
Navarrete vs. Brillantes, Jr.
Case
A.C. No. 13588
Decision Date
Jan 23, 2023
Atty. Brillantes suspended for 6 months, disqualified as notary for 2 years, after notarizing a deed without proper ID verification, violating Notarial Rules.
suspension
disbarment
notary public
A

Case Summary (A.C. No. 13588)

Key Dates

  • Effective date of the 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice (A.M. No. 02-8-13-SC): August 1, 2004.
  • Execution and notarization of the Deed of Real Estate Mortgage (DREM): October 30, 2004.
  • Administrative complaint filed with the IBP: October 7, 2016.
  • IBP Investigating Commissioner Report and Recommendation: June 15, 2018.
  • IBP Board of Governors Resolution adopting modified recommendation: October 4, 2018.
  • IBP Extended Resolution clarifying findings and penalty: July 3, 2022.
  • Supreme Court decision date: January 23, 2023.
  • Relevant personal data from documentary record: complainants’ birth dates — Miguel: March 14, 1989; Miguelito, Jr.: May 22, 1991 (showing they were minors at the time of the DREM).

Applicable Law and Authorities

  • Constitutional framework: 1987 Philippine Constitution (applicable given the decision date).
  • Primary regulatory sources: 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice (including Section 12, Rule II on “competent evidence of identity”) and the Code of Professional Responsibility (Canons and Rules cited).
  • Controlling notarial rule emphasized: a notary must not notarize unless the signatory personally appears and is personally known to the notary or otherwise identified through competent evidence of identity.
  • Definition of competent evidence (Section 12, Rule II): (a) at least one current identification document issued by an official agency bearing the photograph and signature of the individual; or (b) specified credible-witness alternatives as defined by the Rule.
  • Relevant jurisprudence cited: prior decisions underscoring the public importance of notarization and the invalidity of treating a community tax certificate (CTC) as competent evidence of identity.

Factual Allegations

  • Complainants alleged that respondent prepared and notarized a DREM in favor of Sebastian covering property co-owned by them and their brother Dinno, without their knowledge and with falsified indications that they were of legal age.
  • They claimed that strangers signed their names (MGN and MGN, Jr.) and that respondent thereby knowingly participated in or facilitated the fraud.
  • Complainants further alleged respondent defended Sebastian’s position in subsequent civil proceedings and attached multiple documents (birth certificates, TCT, DREM and its amendment, IDs, CTCs purportedly used at notarization, pleadings in criminal and civil actions, etc.) to support their assertions.

Respondent’s Position and Evidence

  • Respondent denied violating the Notarial Rules and CPR, asserting that he ascertained identities by requiring presentation and photocopying of CTCs and other IDs, and by referring to the property’s TCT which listed the co-owners as “of legal age.”
  • He asserted the presence of complainants’ father (Miguelito, Sr.) and brother (Dinno) who identified the appearing persons as the complainants; and he relied on an Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate (July 2003) in which the complainants were represented as “of legal age,” with signatures that appeared similar to those in the DREM.
  • Respondent also noted that Atty. Rolando B. Bernardo notarized the Amended DREM and that complainants had not earlier questioned the DREM’s validity on the ground of minority in the civil proceedings.
  • He argued the administrative complaint was filed years after the DREM (allegedly to harass or press for settlement), that this was his first administrative charge in 25+ years, and that the 2004 Notarial Rules were newly enacted when the DREM was notarized, creating uncertainty as to acceptable competent evidence of identity. Respondent submitted documentary materials (including CTCs and IDs he received, affidavits from Sebastian and broker, TCTs, and pleadings).

IBP Findings and Recommendations

  • The IBP Investigating Commissioner recommended suspension for six months and revocation of any notarial commission, finding respondent notarized the DREM “either without the presence of the affiants or with their forged signatures.”
  • The IBP Board of Governors modified the recommendation to suspension for one year, immediate revocation of notarial commission, and disqualification from being commissioned as notary public for two years.
  • In an Extended Resolution, the IBP clarified that complainants were minors at the time of the DREM and that the proofs presented to respondent were principally CTCs and private IDs without the requisite photograph-and-signature-bearing official agency documentation, thus violating Section 12 of the 2004 Notarial Rules.

Issue Presented

  • Whether there are grounds to hold respondent administratively liable for violating the 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice and, as applicable, the Code of Professional Responsibility.

Court’s Legal Analysis — Importance of Notarization and Obligations of a Notary

  • The Court reiterated the established principle that notarization is a public function with substantive public interest: a notarized instrument becomes a public document entitled to full faith and credit on its face, and a notary must therefore exercise utmost care in performing notarial duties. Notaries must inform themselves of the facts they certify and must not participate in or enable illegal transactions.
  • The Court emphasized the 2004 Notarial Rules’ mandates: a notary must not notarize unless the signatory personally appears and is personally known to the notary or identified through “competent evidence of identity” as defined in Section 12, Rule II.

Court’s Legal Analysis — Section 12 and Competent Evidence of Identity

  • The Court focused on the textual requirement that competent evidence consist of at least one current identification document issued by an official agency bearing the photograph and signature of the individual, or the specified credible-witness alternatives.
  • The Court held that a CTC does not satisfy Section 12 because it lacks both photograph and signature and is not enumerated as an acceptable competent evidence of identity under the Rules. Recent jurisprudence cited in the decision treats CTCs as insufficient for identification in notarial practice.

Court’s Findings on Factual Compliance with Notarial Rules

  • The Court found that complainants were minors on October 30, 2004 and therefore could not have been the persons who appeared before respondent, despite respondent’s acceptance of CTCs and private institutional IDs.
  • Respondent’s reliance on private IDs (University of Perpetual Help, MRN Construction) was inadequate because the 2004 Rules require identification from an official agency bearing photograph and signature.
  • Testimony and documentary support purporting to identify the appearing persons (e.g., statements by Miguelito, Sr. and Dinno) did not meet the credible-witness requirements specified in Section 12: Dinno was privy to the DREM (thus disqualified as a credible witness under the Rule), and the record lacked evidence that any other witness was personally known to respondent or produced an acceptable official identification.
  • The Court observed that respondent admitted the 2004 Notarial Rules were already in force when the DREM was executed; thus, the contention of uncertainty about acceptable identification documents carried limited weight.

Court’s Assessment of Ethical Violations Under the CPR

  • The Court recognized that breaches of the Notarial Rules generally implicate the Code of Professional Responsibility because failure to properly perform notarial duties undermines legal processes and involves falsehood or deceitful conduct. The Court cited the relevant CPR Canons and Rules (Canon 1; Rule 1.01; Canon 10; Rule 10.01).
  • However, on the record and given mitigating circumstances (respondent’s long unblemished practice of over 25 years, reliance on the TCT which stated the co-owners were of legal age, similarity of signatures in an earlier extrajudicial settlement in which the complainants were listed as “of legal age,” and the first offense), the Court declined to find respondent guilty of the more serious CPR violations alleging unlawful, dishonest, immoral or deceitful conduct. The Court concluded that the record did not establish the requisite moral turpitude or intent for those specific CPR breaches.

Court’s Holding

  • The Court held respondent guilty of violating the 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice for notarizing documents without properly ascertaining the identity of those who appeared before him in violation of Section 12. The Court found respondent’s conduct undermined the integrit

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