This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2015-02-18 |
SERENO, C.J. |
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| As more lawyers and regular notaries public populated far-flung areas, the need for ex officio notaries public diminished as did their power. Thus, ever since this clarification was made by the Court in the 1980 case Borre v. Moya,[19] the power of ex officio notaries public have been limited to notarial acts connected to the exercise of their official functions and duties.[20] This means that since the promulgation of that ruling, they have no longer had the authority to notarize documents that do not bear any relation to the performance of their official functions, such as contracts and other acts of conveyance,[21] affidavits,[22] certificates of candidacy,[23] special powers of attorney,[24] pleadings,[25] sworn applications for business permits,[26] or other similar instruments. To repeat, the notarization of documents that have no relation to the performance of their official functions is now considered to be beyond the scope of their authority as notaries public ex officio.[27] Any one of them who does so would be committing an unauthorized notarial act,[28] which amounts to engaging in the unauthorized practice of law[29] and abuse of authority.[30] | |||||