Notarization 101: Eight must-knows

Remember the time you lost your ID and were required to present an Affidavit of Loss?

Whether for an Affidavit of Loss, Deed of Sale, or other legal documents, one will inevitably be required to appear before a notary public at some point in life.

In numerous cases, the Supreme Court has reiterated the rule that notarization is not an empty, meaningless, and routinary act, but one invested with substantive public interest.

Thus, here are things that must be kept in mind in case a need for notarial service arises:

Not all lawyers are notaries public. But all notaries public are lawyers. A common misconception about notarization is that all lawyers can notarize a document. It must be made clear that a lawyer is not automatically a notary public. The power to notarize documents is not inherent to lawyers.

To be a notary public, a lawyer must possess all of the qualifications under the 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice and must file a Petition for Notarial Commission with the Executive Judge of the place of commission.

The fact that the notary public personally knows the signatory is not an exemption to the requirement of personal appearance. Such fact only dispenses with the requirement of presentation of competent evidence of identity by the signatory.

The person and the notary public who make it appear that there was a personal appearance before the notary public when in fact there was none may be prosecuted and held liable for the Falsification of Public Document.

Subject to certain exceptional occasions or situations under the 2004 Notarial Rules, the rule is that a notary public shall not perform a notarial act outside of his regular place of business. Thus, one must think twice and exercise extra caution before availing oneself of notarial services offered and performed on the sides of the street.

For more of Dean Nilo Divina’s legal tidbits, please visit www.divinalaw.com. For comments and questions, please send an email to cabdo@divinalaw.com.

DivinaLaw is a full service law firm that is duly organized under the laws of the Philippines, with principal office address at 8 th Floor, Pacific Star Building, Makati Avenue corner Gil Puyat, Makati, Philippines.

DivinaLaw respects your privacy and recognizes the need for appropriate measures to protect and manage your personal data. This Privacy Statement aims to assure our clients and other individuals that we are observing the appropriate level of personal data protection in compliance with the standards prescribed by Republic Act No. 10173, otherwise known as the “Data Privacy Act”.

Service Description

Our practice includes the entire spectrum of Philippine law. Our litigation practice covers corporate, criminal and civil litigation, alternative dispute resolution, estates and trusts, immigration, labor and employment, elections, administrative regulation, and maritime law. Our corporate practice includes banking, finance and construction, mergers and acquisition, foreign investments, securities, corporate rehabilitation, insurance, public-private partnerships, mining and natural resources, energy, utilities regulation, intellectual property, sports and entertainment, and taxation.

Personal Information to be Collected

The following personal information are collected from our clients:

1. Personal contact information which includes your name, address, email address, phone number, or any other information that would allow DivinaLaw to contact you;
2. Demographic information which includes your gender, date of birth, age, civil status, nationality, etc.;
3. Non-personal information such as those provided by your device which may include your IP address, geolocation, operating system, browser type and version, and other machine identifiers, etc.; and
4. Other legal and personal concerns that you referred to us for opinion, resolution, establishment of your claim, or defense of your rights.

Collection Method

Your personal information may be collected, directly or indirectly, through any of the following means:

1. Forms, agreements and other similar or related documents you submitted;
2. Use and log-in to DivinaLaw’s website when you choose to fill out a ‘Contact Us’ form;
3. During availment of DivinaLaw’s services;
4. Communications and correspondences with our lawyers, whether in writing, verbally, or thru electronic means;
5. Footages from our CCTV cameras; and
6. Personal Information may also be obtained from third parties and other sources which have obtained your prior consent for disclosure or when Divina Law is legally allowed to acquire such information.

Purpose and Use of Collected Personal Information

Your personal information is collected by DivinaLaw for the following purposes:

1. To perform our obligations under our engagement agreement;
2. To assist you in all your legal concerns;
3. To inform you about the activities, projects, programs of DivinaLaw; and
4. To comply with legal and regulatory requirements and perform such other processing that may be required under any applicable law or regulation.

In the course of performing its services and responsibilities, DivinaLaw may engage the services of third-party service providers. In doing so, certain personal information are required to be disclosed for legitimate business concerns and as may be necessary to provide you with our services. We will never share, sell or otherwise disclose your personal information to third-parties, except as otherwise stated above or unless otherwise permitted under the Data Privacy Law.

Storage and Transmission of Personal Information

Organizational, physical and technical security measures are maintained, enforced and implemented at all times to ensure the integrity, confidentiality and security of your personal information.

The security measures of DivinaLaw include, but are not limited to the following:

1. The processing of personal information is limited to the extent necessary to deliver the services offered and/or made available by DivinaLaw;
2. Our server is equipped with firewall, data encryption, anti-virus, and other appropriate security controls;
3. Access to personal information is restricted to authorized personnel on a need-to-know basis;
4. Regular audits are conducted to ensure that personal information is secured and security controls are effective;
5. The security systems are kept up to date; and
6. The personnel are regularly oriented regarding the appropriate level of data privacy protection.

Your personal information is kept in a secure facility within our office.

Method of Use

Your personal information may be used as is or further processed solely for the purpose of performing our obligations and responsibilities to our clients.

Retention Period

Your personal information will be retained by DivinaLaw until it is no longer necessary for the fulfillment of the purpose/s for which it was obtained and for an additional period of ten (10) years thereafter. After which, the data will be anonymized and utilized solely for statistical purposes.

Rights of Data Subject

In accordance with the Data Privacy Law, we shall respect and uphold your rights as data subjects. For more information about your rights, kindly refer to National Privacy Commission’s webpage at https://privacy.gov.ph/know-your-rights/.

Should you have questions or concerns about Data Privacy, you may contact our Data Protection Officer thru: dpo@divinalaw.com.

DivinaLaw hereby reserves the right to amend this Privacy Statement to comply with government and regulatory requirements, to adapt to new technologies, to align with industry practices, or for other legitimate purposes. Rest assured that you will be notified if the amendments are significant.

Date: 4 April 2018