10/06/2025
In line with its Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027, the (SC) has amended the 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice (2004 Notarial Rules) to modernize and streamline notarial reporting.
In an En Banc Resolution in A.M. No. 02-8-13-SC, the SC approved amendments to the 2004 Notarial Rules, specifically on the submission of copies of notarial entries and instruments acknowledged by notaries public.
Under the Amended 2004 Notarial Rules, notaries public are now required to keep in portable document format (PDF) the certified copy of each month’s notarial entries and the duplicate original copy of instruments acknowledged before them.
These should be emailed to the clerk of court within the first 10 days of the following month using the notary public’s official email address. If there are no entries for the month, a formal statement confirming this must be submitted instead.
All PDF files must be sent as direct attachments to the transmittal email. They must not be submitted as external links to cloud storage, file-sharing platforms, or similar sites. PDF files should not be compressed into archive formats such as ZIP (.zip) or RAR (.rar), and must not require additional extraction or conversion prior to access.
Notaries are prohibited from charging any fees for digitizing, transmitting, or processing these documents.
Courts retaining electronic duplicate original copies of notarized documents are directed to conduct an inventory and assessment of these materials. A report on the results must be submitted to the Office of the Court Administrator, with a copy furnished to the SC’s Management Information Systems Office.
The Amended 2004 Notarial Rules was published on June 6, 2025, in two newspapers of general circulation and shall become effective 15 days from publication or on June 21, 2025.
Read the full text of the SC’s March 4, 2025 Resolution in A.M. No. 02-8-13-SC, Re: 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice, at https://tinyurl.com/bdzaatrx.
Copying of this content is subject to the SC PIO’s Credit Attribution Policy: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/credit-attribution-policy/.
