Only lawyers can be notaries public. Secretaries cannot sign in behalf of a lawyer even if authorized by the lawyer to do so. This is against the law. Notarization is a sacred task assigned to a lawyer who received his or her commission from the court.

Know that a notary public is prohibited from performing a notarial act outside his regular place of work or business.  A notarial commission is limited to a specific place so that a  notary public commissioned in Makati cannot perform a notarial act in Mandaluyong.

More importantly, the person involved as a signatory to  an instrument or document sought to be notarized must be in the presence of the notary public at the time of the notarization , and he or she has to be personally known to the notary public or otherwise identified  through competent evidence of identity. A residence certificate (or “cedula”) is no longer considered as a competent evidence of identity.

A document not properly notarized maybe considered void.

 

To know more about this topic or If you need notarial services in Makati City, email info@dapatlaw.com:8888/dlaw or call Atty. Joyce Domingo at +632-8231090.