ACT NO.

2711

AN ACT AMENDING THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE

For the purpose of adapting it to the Jones Law and the Reorganization Act, Act
Numbered Two thousand six hundred and fifty-seven, known as the Administrative
Code, is hereby amended in certain particulars; and said Act shall hereafter read as
follows:

BOOK I

CHAPTER 11

Notaries Public

PRELIMINARY ARTICLE

Title of Chapter

SECTION 231. Title of the chapter – Title of the chapter shall be known as the Notarial
Law.

[2657–265]

ARTICLE I

Appointment and Qualification of Notaries Public

SECTION 232. Appointment of notaries public. – Judges of Court of First Instance in the
respective provinces may appoint as many notaries public as the public good requires,
and there shall be at least one for every municipality in each province. Notaries public in
the City of Manila shall be appointed by the Supreme Court or, during vacation, by the
Supreme Court judge assigned to vacation duty.

[2657–266.]

SECTION 233. Qualifications for appointment. – To be eligible for appointment as notary

public, a person must be a citizen of the (Philippine Islands) Philippines or of the United
States and over twenty-one years of age. He must, furthermore, be person who has been
admitted to the practice of law or who has completed and passed in the studies of law in a
reputable university or school of law, or has passed the examination for the office of
justice of the peace or clerk or deputy clerk of court, or be a person who has at some time
held the office of clerk or deputy clerk of court for a period of not less than two years, or a
person who had qualified for the office of notary public under the Spanish sovereignty.

In the chartered cities and in the capitals of the provinces, where there are two or more
lawyers appointed a notaries public, no person other than a lawyer or a person who had
qualified to hold the office of notary public under the Spanish sovereignty shall hold said
office.

In municipalities or (townships) municipal, districts wherein no person reside having the

qualifications hereinbefore specified or having them; refused hold such office, judges of
first instance may appoint other persons temporarily to exercise the office of notary
public who have the requisite qualifications of fitness and morality.

[2657–267; C.A. 514–1.]

SECTION 234. Disqualification incident to conviction of crime. – No person shall be

appointed notary public who has been convicted of any crime implying moral turpitude.

[2657–268.]

SECTION 235. Restriction on right of certain officials to act as notaries public. – Justices
of the peace and clerks of court shall not act as notaries public except in the character of
notaries public ex officio.

[2657–269.]

SECTION 236. When oath of office to be preserved. – The oath of office of a notary public
in a province shall be filed and preserved, together with the commission, in the office of
the clerk of the Court of First Instance of the province. The oath of office of a notary
public in the City of Manila shall be filed and preserved, with the commission, in the
office of the clerk of the Supreme Court.

[2657–270.]

SECTION 237. Form of commission for notary public. – The appointment of a notary
public shall be in writing, signed by the judge, and substantially in the following form:

GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINES)

PROVINCE OF ____________________)

This is to certify that ______________________, of the municipality of

____________________________ in said province, was, on the ________ day of
_____________________, anno Domini nineteen hundred and _____________ appointed
by me a notary, public, within and for the said province, for the term ending on the first
day of January, anno Domini nineteen hundred and ________

_______________________

Judge of the Court of First

Instance of said Province

SECTION 238. Certificate of appointment to be forwarded to Bureau of Justice. – Clerks of

Courts of First Instance shall make and forward to the Bureau of Justice immediately after
commission and oath of office of any notary public are recorded in said clerk’s office a
certificate of such appointment and the term office of the appointee. A record shall be
kept of all such certificates in the Bureau of Justice.

[2657–272]

SECTION 239. Term of office. – The term of office of a notary public shall end at the
expiration of the two-year period beginning upon the first day of January of the year in
which the appointment is made.

[2657–273.]

ARTICLE II

Jurisdiction and Powers

SECTION 240. Territorial jurisdiction. – The jurisdiction of a notary public in a province

shall be co-extensive with the province. The jurisdiction of a notary public in the City of
Manila shall be co-extensive with said city. No notary shall possess authority to do any
notarial act beyond the limits of his jurisdiction.

[2657–274.]

SECTION 241. Powers of notary public. – Every notary public shall have power to
administer all oaths and affirmations provided for by law, in all matters incident to his
notarial office, and in the execution of affidavits, depositions, and other documents
requiring an oath, and to receive the proof or acknowledgment of all writings relating to
commerce or navigation, such as bills of sale, bottomries, mortgages, and hypothecations
of ships, vessels, or boats, charter parties of affreightments, letters of attorney, deeds,
mortgages, transfers and assignments of land or buildings, or an interest therein, and
such other writings as are commonly proved or acknowledged before notaries; to act as a
magistrate, in the writing of affidavits or depositions, and to make declarations and
certify the truth thereof under his seal of office, concerning all matters done by him by
virtue of his office.
[2657–275.]

ARTICLE III

Notaries Public Ex Officio

SECTION 242. Officers acting as notaries public ex officio. – Except as otherwise specially
provided, the following officials, and none other, shall be deemed to be notaries public ex
officio, and as such they are authorized to perform, within the limits of their territorial
jurisdiction as herein below defined, all the duties appertaining to the office of notary
public:

(a) The Chief of the Division of Archives, Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks; the Clerk
of the. Supreme Court, the Clerk of the Court of First Instance of the Ninth Judicial
District, the Chief of the General Land Registration Office, and the Superintendent of the
Postal Savings Bank Division, Bureau of Posts – when acting within the limits of the City
of Manila.

[3228–1.]

(b) Clerks of Courts of First Instance outside of the City of Manila, when acting within the
judicial districts to which they respectively pertain.

(c) Justices of the peace, within the limits of the territory over which their jurisdiction as
justices of the peace extends; but auxiliary justices of the peace and other of who are by
law vested with the office of justice of the peace ex officio shall not, solely by reason of
such authority, be also entitled to act in the capacity of notaries ex officio.

(d) Any government officer or employee of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu
appointed notary public ex officio by the Judge of the Court of First Instance, with
jurisdiction co-extensive with the province wherein the appointee is stationed, and for a
term of two years beginning upon the first day of January of the year in which the
appointment is made.

The authority conferred in subsections (a) and (b) hereof may, in the absence of the chief
or clerk of court, be exercised by an assistant chief, acting chief, or deputy clerk of court
pertaining to the office in question.

[2657–276; 2664–04.]

SECTION 243. Notary public ex officio required to use register. – No person shall do any
act in the capacity of notary public ex officio in cases where full notarial authentication is
required unless he shall have the prescribed notarial register; but the notarial acts of an
assistant chief, acting chief, or deputy clerk shall be entered in the same register as would
be used by his principal.

[2657–277.]

ARTICLE IV

Notarial Seal

SECTION 244. Seal of notary public. – Every person appointed to the position of notary
public shall have a seal of office, to be procured at his own expense, which shall be affixed
to papers officially signed by him. It shall be of metal and shall have the name of the
province and the words (“Philippine Islands”) “Philippines” and his own-name engraved
on the margin thereof, and the words “notary, public” across the center. An impression of
such seal directly on the paper or parchment on which the writing is had shall be as valid
as if made on wax or wafer.

In the case of the Chief of the General Land Registration Office or other clerk of court
acting as notary public ex officio, it shall suffice to use the official seal of the court to
which the officer in question pertains other officials authorized to act as notaries public
ex officio are not required to keep or use a seal, unless especially so prescribed, by law.

[2657–278.]

ARTICLE V

Notarial Register

SECTION 245. Notarial register. – Every notary public shall keep a register to be known as
the notarial register, wherein record shall be made of all his official acts as notary; and he
shall supply a certified copy of such record, or any part thereof, to any person applying for
it and paying the legal fees therefor.

Such register shall be kept in books to be furnished by the Attorney-General to any notary
public upon request and upon payment of the actual cost thereof, but officers exercising
the functions of notaries public ex officio shall be supplied with the register at
Government expense. The register shall be duly paged, and on the first page the Attorney-
General shall certify the number of pages of which the book consist.

[2657–279.]

SECTION 246. Matters to be entered therein – The notary public shall enter in such
register, in chronological order, the nature of each instrument executed, sworn to, or
acknowledged before him, the person executing, swearing to, or acknowledging the
instrument, the witnesses, if any, to the signature, the date of the execution, oath, or
acknowledgment of the instrument, the fees collected by hint for his services as notary in
connection therewith, and; when the instrument is a contract, he shall keep a correct
copy thereof as part of his records, and shall likewise 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. The notary shall give to each
instrument executed, sworn to, or acknowledged before him a number corresponding to
the one in his register, and shall also state on the instrument the page or pages of his
register on which the same is recorded. No blank line shall be left between entries.

When a notary public shall protest any draft, bill of exchange, or promissory note, he
shall make a full and true record in his notarial register of all his proceedings in relation
thereto, and shall note therein whether the demand or the sum of money therein
mentioned was made, of 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, and when, and to whom, and where directed; and of every other fact touching the
same.

At the end of each week the notary shall certify in his register the number of instruments
executed, sworn to, acknowledged, or protested before him; or if none such, certificate
shall show this fact.

[2657–280]

A certified copy of each month’s entries as described in this section and a certified copy of
any instrument acknowledged before them shall within the first ten days of the month
next following be forwarded by the notaries public to the clerk of the Court of First
Instance of the province and shall be filed under the responsibility of such officer:
Provided, That if there is no entry to certify for the month, the notary shall forward a
statement to this effect in lieu of the certified copies herein required.

[3068–1; C.A. 72–1.]

SECTION 247. Disposition of notarial register. – Immediately upon his notarial register
being filled, and also within fifteen days after the expiration of his commission, unless
reappointed, the notary public shall forward his notarial register to the clerk of the Court
of First Instance of the province or of the City of Manila, as the case may be, wherein he
exercises his office, who shall examine the same and report thereon to the judge of the
Court of First Instance. If the judge finds that no irregularity has been committed in the
keeping of the register, he shall forward the same to the chief of the division of archives,
patents, copyrights, and trademarks. In case the judge finds that irregularities have been
committed in the keeping of the register, he shall refer the matter to the fiscal of the
province – and in the City of Manila, to the fiscal of the city – for action and the sending
of the register to the chief of the division of archives, patents, copyrights, and trademarks
shall be deferred until the termination of the case against the notary public.

[2657–281]

ARTICLE VI

Supervisory Authority of Judges Over Notaries Public

SECTION 248. Supervision of judges of first instance over notaries public. – The judge of
the Court of First Instance in each judicial district shall at all times exercise supervision
over the notaries public within his district and shall keep himself informed of the manner
in which they perform their duties by personal inspection wherever possible, or from
reports which he may require from them, or from any other available source.

In the City of Manila such supervision shall be exercised by one of the Judges of the Court
of First Instance of the (Ninth) Fourth Judicial District (City of Manila) to be thereunto
assigned by the judges of the nine branches of said court.

[2657–282.]

SECTION 249. Grounds for revocation of commission. – The following derelictions of

duty on the part of a notary public, shall, in the discretion of the proper judge of first
instance, be sufficient ground for the revocation of his commission:

(a) The failure of the notary to keep a notarial register.

(b) The failure of the notary to make the proper entry or entries in his notarial register
touching his notarial acts in the manner required by law.

(c) The failure of the notary to send the copy of the entries to the proper clerk of Court of
First Instance within the first ten days of the month next following.

(d) The failure of the notary to affix to acknowledgments the date of expiration of his
commission, as required by law.

(e) The failure of the notary to forward his notarial register, when filled, to the proper
clerk of court.

(f) The failure of the notary to make the proper notation regarding cedula certificates.

(g) The failure of a notary to make report; within a reasonable time, to the proper judge of
first instance concerning the performance of his duties, as may be required by such judge.
(h) Any other dereliction or act which shall appear to the judge to constitute good cause
for removal.

[2657–283; 3068–2.]

ARTICLE VII

Miscellaneous Provisions

SECTION 250. Affixing date of expiration of commission. – Notaries public shall affix to
all acknowledgments taken and certified by them, according to law, a statement of the
date on which their commissions expire.

[2657–284]

SECTION 251. Requirement as to notation of payment of (cedula) residence tax. – Every

contract, deed, or other document acknowledged before a notary public shall have
certified thereon that the parties thereto have presented their proper (cedula) residence
certificates or are exempt from the (cedula) residence tax, and there shall be entered by
the notary public as a part of such certification the number, place of issue, and date of
each (cedula) residence certificate as aforesaid.

[2657–285.]

SECTION 252. Compensation of notaries public. – No fee, compensation, or reward of any

sort, except such as is expressly prescribed and allowed by law, shall be collected or
received for any service rendered by a notary public. Such moneys collected by notaries
public proper shall belong to them personally. Officers acting as notaries public ex officio
shall charge for their services the fees prescribed by law and account therefor as for
Government funds.

[2657–286; see C.A. 66–1.]

Signed on July 25, 1987 (EO 292)
CHAPTER 10

Official Oaths

SECTION 40. Oaths of Office for Public Officers and Employees.—All public officers and
employees of the government including every member of the armed forces shall, before entering
upon the discharge of his duties, take an oath or affirmation to uphold and defend the Constitution;
that he will bear true faith and allegiance to it; obey the laws, legal orders and decrees promulgated
by the duly constituted authorities; will well and faithfully discharge to the best of his ability the
duties of the office or position upon which he is about to enter; and that he voluntarily assumes the
obligation imposed by his oath of office, without mental reservation or purpose of evasion. Copies
of the oath shall be deposited with the Civil Service Commission and the National Archives.

SECTION 41. Officers Authorized to Administer Oath.—(1) The following officers have general
authority to administer oath: Notaries public, members of the judiciary, clerks of courts, the
Secretary of the either House of the Congress of the Philippines, of departments, bureau directors,
registers of deeds, provincial governors and lieutenant-governors, city mayors, municipal mayors
and any other officer in the service of the government of the Philippines whose appointment is
vested in the President.

(2) Oaths may also be administered by any officer whose duties, as defined by law or regulation,
require presentation to him of any statement under oath.

SECTION 42. Duty to Administer Oath.—Officers authorized to administer oaths, with the
exception of notaries public, municipal judges and clerks of court, are not obliged to administer
oaths or execute certificates save in matters of official business; and with the exception of notaries
public, the officer performing the service in those matters shall charge no fee, unless specifically
authorized by law.
Republic Act No. 7160 October 10, 1991
Setion 41(b) Amended by RA 8553
Setion 43 Amended by RA 8553

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE OF 1991

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress

assembled::

ARTICLE VI
Community Tax

Section 156. Community Tax. - Cities or municipalities may levy a community tax in accordance with
the provisions of this Article.

Section 157. Individuals Liable to Community Tax. - Every inhabitant of the Philippines eighteen
(18) years of age or over who has been regularly employed on a wage or salary basis for at least
thirty (30) consecutive working days during any calendar year, or who is engaged in business or
occupation, or who owns real property with an aggregate assessed value of One thousand pesos
(P1,000.00) or more, or who is required by law to file an income tax return shall pay an annual
additional tax of Five pesos (P5.00) and an annual additional tax of One peso (P1.00) for every One
thousand pesos (P1,000.00) of income regardless of whether from business, exercise of profession
or from property which in no case shall exceed Five thousand pesos (P5,000.00).

In the case of husband and wife, the additional tax herein imposed shall be based upon the total
property owned by them and the total gross receipts or earnings derived by them.

Section 158. Juridical Persons Liable to Community Tax. - Every corporation no matter how created
or organized, whether domestic or resident foreign, engaged in or doing business in the Philippines
shall pay an annual community tax of Five hundred pesos (P500.00) and an annual additional tax,
which, in no case, shall exceed Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00) in accordance with the following
schedule:

(1) For every Five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) worth of real property in the Philippines
owned by it during the preceding year based on the valuation used for the payment of real
property tax under existing laws, found in the assessment rolls of the city or municipality
where the real property is situated - Two pesos (P2.00); and

(2) For every Five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) of gross receipts or earnings derived by it
from its business in the Philippines during the preceding year - Two pesos (P2.00).

The dividends received by a corporation from another corporation however shall, for the
purpose of the additional tax, be considered as part of the gross receipts or earnings of said
corporation.

Section 159. Exemptions. - The following are exempt from the community tax:

(1) Diplomatic and consular representatives; and

 (2) Transient visitors when their stay in the Philippines does not exceed three (3) months.

Section 160. Place of Payment. - The community tax shall be paid in the place of residence of the
individual, or in the place where the principal office of the juridical entity is located.

Section 161. Time for Payment; Penalties for Delinquency. -

(a) The community tax shall accrue on the first (1st) day of January of each year which shall
be paid not later than the last day of February of each year. If a person reaches the age of
eighteen (18) years or otherwise loses the benefit of exemption on or before the last day of
June, he shall be liable for the community tax on the day he reaches such age or upon the
day the exemption ends. However, if a person reaches the age of eighteen (18) years or
loses the benefit of exemption on or before the last day of March, he shall have twenty (20)
days to pay the community tax without becoming delinquent.

Persons who come to reside in the Philippines or reach the age of eighteen (18) years on or
after the first (1st) day of July of any year, or who cease to belong to an exempt class or after
the same date, shall not be subject to the community tax for that year.

(b) Corporations established and organized on or before the last day of June shall be liable
for the community tax for that year. But corporations established and organized on or before
the last day of March shall have twenty (20) days within which to pay the community tax
without becoming delinquent. Corporations established and organized on or after the first
day of July shall not be subject to the community tax for that year.

If the tax is not paid within the time prescribed above, there shall be added to the unpaid amount an
interest of twenty-four percent (24%) per annum from the due date until it is paid.

Section 162. Community Tax Certificate. - A community tax certificate shall be issued to every
person or corporation upon payment of the community tax. A community tax certificate may also be
issued to any person or corporation not subject to the community tax upon payment of One peso
(P1.00).

Section 163. Presentation of Community Tax Certificate On Certain Occasions. -

(a) When an individual subject to the community tax acknowledges any document before a
notary public, takes the oath of office upon election or appointment to any position in the
government service; receives any license, certificate. or permit from any public authority;
pays any tax or free; receives any money from any public fund; transacts other official
business; or receives any salary or wage from any person or corporation with whom such
transaction is made or business done or from whom any salary or wage is received to
require such individual to exhibit the community tax certificate.

The presentation of community tax certificate shall not be required in connection with the
registration of a voter.

(b) When, through its authorized officers, any corporation subject to the community tax
receives any license, certificate, or permit from any public authority, pays any tax or fee,
receives money from public funds, or transacts other official business, it shall be the duty of
the public official with whom such transaction is made or business done, to require such
corporation to exhibit the community tax certificate.
 (c) The community tax certificate required in the two preceding paragraphs shall be the one
issued for the current year, except for the period from January until the fifteenth (15th) of
April each year, in which case, the certificate issued for the preceding year shall suffice.

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1158

PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1158 - A DECREE TO CONSOLIDATE AND CODIFY ALL THE INTERNAL
REVENUE LAWS OF THE PHILIPPINES

Sec. 201. Effect of failure of stamp taxable document. — An instrument, document, or paper which is
required by law to be stamped and which has been signed, issued, accepted, or transferred without
being duly stamped, shall not be recorded, nor shall it or any copy thereof or any record of transfer of
the same be admitted or used in evidence in any court until the requisite stamps shall have been affixed
thereto and cancelled.

No notary public or other officer authorized to administer oaths shall add his jurat or
acknowledgment to any document subject to documentary stamp tax unless the proper
documentary stamps are affixed thereto and cancelled.