Article 38p. 38

LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ETHICS CODES, CANONS AND RULES

SECTION 4. Refusal to Notarize . — A notary public shall

not perform any notarial act described in these Rules for

any person requesting such an act even if he tenders the

appropriate fee specified by these Rules if:

(a) the notary knows or has good reason to believe that

the notarial act or transaction is unlawful or immoral;

(b) the signatory shows a demeanor which engenders in

the mind of the notary public reasonable doubt as to the

former's

knowledge

of

the

consequences

of

the

transaction requiring a notarial act; and

(c) in the notary's judgment, the signatory is not acting of

his or her own free will.

SECTION 5. False or Incomplete Certificate . — A notary

public shall not:

(a) execute a certificate containing information known or

believed by the notary to be false.

(b)

affix

an

official

signature

or

seal

on a notarial

certificate that is incomplete.

SECTION 6. Improper Instruments or Documents . — A

notary public shall not notarize:

(a) a blank or incomplete instrument or document; or

(b) an instrument or document without appropriate

notarial certification.

RULE V Fees of Notary Public

SECTION

1.

Imposition

and

Waiver

of

Fees .

—

For

performing a notarial act, a notary public may charge the

maximum fee as prescribed by the Supreme Court unless

he waives the fee in whole or in part.

SECTION 2. Travel Fees and Expenses . — A notary public

may charge travel fees and expenses separate and apart

from the notarial fees prescribed in the preceding section

when traveling to perform a notarial act if the notary

public and the person requesting the notarial act agree

prior to the travel.

SECTION 3. Prohibited Fees . — No fee or compensation of

any kind, except those expressly prescribed and allowed

herein, shall be collected or received for any notarial

service.

SECTION 4. Payment or Refund of Fees . — A notary

public shall not require payment of any fees specified

herein prior to the performance of a notarial act unless

otherwise agreed upon.

Any travel fees and expenses paid to a notary public prior

to the performance of a notarial act are not subject to

refund if the notary public had already traveled but failed

to complete in whole or in part the notarial act for

reasons beyond his control and without negligence on his

part.

SECTION 5. Notice of Fees . — A notary public who charges

a fee for notarial services shall issue a receipt registered

with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and keep a journal of

notarial fees. He shall enter in the journal all fees charged

for services rendered.

A notary public shall post in a conspicuous place in his

office a complete schedule of chargeable notarial fees.

RULE VI Notarial Register

SECTION 1. Form of Notarial Register . — (a) A notary

public shall keep, maintain, protect and provide for lawful

inspection as provided in these Rules, a chronological

official notarial register of notarial acts consisting of a

permanently bound book with numbered pages.

The register shall be kept in books to be furnished by the

Solicitor General to any notary public upon request and

upon payment of the cost thereof. The register shall be

duly paged, and on the first page, the Solicitor General

shall certify the number of pages of which the book

consists.

For

purposes

of

this

provision,

a

Memorandum

of

Agreement or Understanding may be entered into by the

Office of the Solicitor General and the Office of the Court

Administrator.

(b) A notary public shall keep only one active notarial

register at any given time.

SECTION 2. Entries in the Notarial Register . — (a) For

every notarial act, the notary shall record in the notarial

register at the time of notarization the following:

(1) the entry number and page number;

(2) the date and time of day of the notarial act;

(3) the type of notarial act;

(4) the title or description of the instrument, document or

proceeding;

(5) the name and address of each principal;

(6) the competent evidence of identity as defined by

these Rules if the signatory is not personally known to the

notary;

(7) the name and address of each credible witness

swearing to or affirming the person's identity;

(8) the fee charged for the notarial act;

(9) the address where the notarization was performed if

not in the notary's regular place of work or business; and

(10) any other circumstance the notary public may deem

of significance or relevance.

(b) A notary public shall record in the notarial register the

reasons and circumstances for not completing a notarial

act.

(c) A notary public shall record in the notarial register the

circumstances of any request to inspect or copy an entry

in the notarial register, including the requester's name,

address,

signature,

thumbmark

or

other

recognized

identifier, and evidence of identity. The reasons for refusal

to allow inspection or copying of a journal entry shall also

be recorded.

(d) When the instrument or document is a contract, the

notary public shall keep an original copy thereof as part of

his records and enter in said records a brief description of

the substance thereof and shall give to each entry a

consecutive number, beginning with number one in each

calendar year. He shall also retain a duplicate original

copy for the Clerk of Court.

(e) The notary public shall give to each instrument or

document executed, sworn to, or acknowledged before

him a number corresponding to the one in his register,

and shall also state on the instrument or document the

page/s of his register on which the same is recorded. No

blank line shall be left between entries.

(f) In case of a protest of any draft, bill of exchange or

promissory note, the notary public shall make a full and

true record of all proceedings in relation thereto and shall

note therein whether the demand for the sum of money

was made, by whom, when, and where; whether he

presented such draft, bill or note; whether notices were

given, to whom and in what manner; where the same

was made, when and to whom and where directed; and

of every other fact touching the same.

(g) At the end of each week, the notary public shall certify

in his notarial register the number of instruments or

documents

executed,

sworn

to,

acknowledged,

or

protested before him; or if none, this certificate shall show

this fact.

(h) A certified copy of each month's entries and a

duplicate original copy of any instrument acknowledged

before the notary public shall, within the first ten (10) days

of the month following, be forwarded to the Clerk of

Court and shall be under the responsibility of such officer.

If there is no entry to certify for the month, the notary

shall forward a statement to this effect in lieu of certified

copies herein required.

© Compiled By RGL

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