The Supreme Court promulgated the Rules on Electronic Notarization (A.M. No. 24-10-14-SC) on 04 February 2025. The Rules now allow for electronic notarization of electronic documents through in-person and remote electronic notarization.
Documents Covered
Only electronic documents are covered by the Rules on Electronic Notarization. The Rules define an electronic document as any information or representation of information received, recorded, transmitted, stored, processed, retrieved, or produced electronically. Scanned copies of paper documents are also included in this definition.
The Rules also expressly require that electronic documents be in Portable Document Format (PDF) or Portable Document Format Archival (PDF/A).
The notarization of paper documents and instruments with handwritten signature or marks shall continue to be governed by the 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice, not by the Rules on Electronic Notarization. Notarial wills and depositions shall also continue to be covered by the 2004 Rules.
Commissioning of Electronic Notary Public (“ENP”)
A notary public under the 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice does not automatically become authorized to perform electronic notarization. Rule VI provides for the following eligibility requirements for commissioning as an ENP:
- Must be a member of the Philippine Bar in good standing with clearances from the Office of the Bar Confidant of the Supreme Court and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines;
- Must be compliant with the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education and Unified Legal Aid Service requirements;
- Must be a resident in the Philippines for at least one (1) year and maintains a regular place of work or business anywhere in the Philippines; and
- Must not have been convicted by final judgment of any crime involving moral turpitude.
After the submission of the documentary requirements, a summary hearing through videoconferencing shall be conducted on the application. Aside from the sufficiency of the application in form and substance, the applicant must also be able to establish not only their understanding of their Rules, but also their aptitude or proficiency to use an electronic notarization facility and its features.
Jurisdiction
As a general rule, a commissioned ENP is authorized to perform electronic notarial acts for principals located anywhere in the Philippines. This is in contrast to the limited territorial jurisdiction of traditional notaries public.
The Rules also provide for a limited extraterritorial performance of electronic notarial acts. The ENP is allowed to perform any of the electronic notarial acts for a principal located outside the Philippines, provided that at the time of the performance of the electronic notarial act, the principal is within the premises of any of the embassies of the Philippines, Philippine consular offices, or offices of the Philippine honorary consuls abroad.
Notarization Process
The Rules provide for two types of electronic notarization: (a) In-Person Electronic Notarization (“IEN”) and (b) Remote Electronic Notarization (“REN”). IEN requires the physical appearance of the principal and witnesses, if any, before the ENP. Meanwhile, REN requires the virtual appearance before the ENP through videoconferencing that allows for synchronous interaction between and among the principal, the witnesses, and the ENP.
For both IEN and REN, the ENP has the obligation to verify the identity of the principal and the witnesses through the identity verification mechanisms of the accredited Electronic Notarization Facilities (“ENFs”). The ENP also has the duty to ensure the voluntariness of the principal and witnesses, and shall read, interpret, and explain the nature of the electronic document.
The Rules allow for the electronic execution of the following notarial acts: acknowledgment, affirmation or oath, jurat, and signature witnessing. For all these four notarial acts, the signature may be affixed using the ENF in full view of the ENP. For acknowledgment and affirmation, the electronic document may also be pre-signed, and the signatories shall simply be required by the ENP to confirm that the signature appearing on the electronic document is theirs.
Upon the execution of the electronic notarial act, the ENP shall then complete the e-notarial certificate, affix their own e-signature and attach their e-notarial seal. After which, the Rules require the uploading of a copy of the notarized electronic document to the Supreme Court Central Notarial Database. Like a traditional notary, an ENP is also required to keep an electronic notarial book, which shall be integrated into the ENF used by the ENP.
Security Measures
To ensure the security and integrity of the technologies used in the performance of the e-notarial acts, the ENPs shall only use the ENFs accredited by the Supreme Court. To qualify as an ENF, the platform shall, among other things, possess:
- e-KYC mechanisms that are consistent with the rules of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (“BSP”);
- multi-factor authentication mechanisms, such as facial recognition, biometrics, and other identity verification mechanism consistent with the issuances of the BSP;
- liveness detection, anti-spoofing technology, and other technology capable of detecting a presentation attack and spoofing;
- geolocation functionality capable of identifying and disabling the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) or other technology to alter the actual location of users; and
- tamper-evident measures such as end-to-end encryption, as certified and declared acceptable by the Supreme Court.
The Rules also require strict compliance with the Data Privacy Act and registration with the National Privacy Commission.