QuestionsQuestions (Act No. 2035)
Every notary public, including ex officio notaries, must keep a notarial register of all official acts, and must provide a certified copy of the record (or any part) to any person applying and paying the legal fees.
The register entry must include: (1) the nature of the instrument; (2) the persons executing, swearing to, or acknowledging; (3) witnesses, if any; (4) date of execution/oath/acknowledgment; (5) fees collected for notarial services; (6) if it is a contract, a brief description of its substance; and (7) the entry must be given a consecutive number.
Entries must be numbered consecutively starting with number one in each calendar year, and each instrument must be stamped/identified with the corresponding register number.
The notary must state on the instrument the page or pages of the notarial register where the instrument is recorded.
No blank line shall be left between entries.
At the end of each week, the notary must certify in the register the number of instruments executed/sworn/acknowledged (or state none). At the end of every month, the notary must send the clerk of the Court of First Instance a copy of the entries made during the month, if any.
The register must be kept in books furnished by the Attorney-General upon request and payment of actual cost. The register must be duly paged, and on the first page the Attorney-General certifies the number of pages in the book.
For the purposes of the section, the city of Manila shall be considered a province.
Failure to comply without just cause is ground for removal of the notary public, and the notary may also be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred pesos.
The judge of the Court of First Instance in each district, and in the city of Manila the senior judge, must supervise notaries within their district and keep informed through personal inspection when possible, required reports, or other available sources.
Within fifteen days after expiration of the commission, the notary must forward the register to the clerk of the Court of First Instance of the province where he exercises office. The clerk examines it and reports to the judge.
If no irregularities are found, the judge forwards the register to the chief of the division of archives, patents, copyrights, and trade-marks of the Executive Bureau. If irregularities exist, the judge refers the matter to the fiscal of the province (or the prosecuting attorney in Manila) for action, and sending to the Executive Bureau is deferred until the case terminates.
It amends the fee schedule by increasing specified amounts—for example, for protesting a bill or note and giving notice, registering the protest, attesting letters of attorney with seal, notarial affidavits with seal, and taking proof/acknowledgment of writings concerning real or personal estate.
It is one peso and fifty centavos.
It is fifty centavos.
One peso for each party.