How to become a Notary Public for new Bar Passers in the Philippines

Step 1: The Requirements and where to get them.

You need the following as your Annexes for your petition: (Note: You can get this list from your
RTC Clerk of Court)

a. A Copy of the Certificate of Membership in the Philippines Bar – You get this after you
sign your Roll of Attorney. Have it photocopied, you do not have to have it certified.

b. Certification of no pending administrative case from the OBC – This one is the cause of
delay of all petitions. It took us a month before we can get this one. To get this, you have to go
to the OBC, fill out the form and pay the fees (about P100. 00 in 2017) plus LBC if you want
them to send it to you. One LBC can fit at least Three (3) Certificates so you can split the cost
with your friends. What we did is that we gave one address (our friend) and have all our OBC
Clearance sent there. By the way, it took as a month before we had our OBC Clearance.

To avoid delay, go to the OBC after Roll signing and fill out the form for your Notarial
Commission.

c. Certificate of Good Moral Character by two executive officers of the Local Chapter –
Get this from your local chapter. In Baguio-Benguet, the local chapter is located at the Third
(3rd) Floor of Justice Hall. The IBP personnel are very friendly and accommodating. Important:
Bring your IBP receipt before going there. You can get this immediately depending on your
chapter.

d. Clearance from the Office of the Clerk of Court (RTC Clearance) – Go to the RTC Clerk
of Court and pay the fees. You can get this within Thirty Minutes to an hour.

e. NBI Clearance – If you are from Baguio City, I have a guide here. You can still get this
guide even if you are not from Baguio since the process is the same.

f. Three (3) Specimen Signature – Sign a blank bond paper with the signature that you want
to use. I am sure that most of us have been experimenting with our signature since First Year
Law. I recommend opting for a short signature instead of a long formal signature because you
will be signing a lot of documents in the future.

g. Three (3) Pieces of Passport sized ID – Paste/glue it in a piece of bond paper.

h. IBP Membership Receipt – You will get this once you paid your fees in the Supreme Court

i. PTR Receipt – Get this from your City/Municipal Hall, get your CEDULA first tell them that
you are a NEW LAWYER with no office yet. Bring your CEDULA to the counter for PTR
Receipt, tell them that you are a NEW LAWYER. The fee will not exceed P500 for new
lawyers.

STEP 2: Filing Your Petition

Now that you have the required documents, you may now draft your Petition. If you have none,
my store offers a Notary Petition plus Formal Offer of Evidence templates. you can have
these forms for a minimal fee of Php99. You can edit this and share if you wish.

Bring your Petition together with the Annexes checked by the Clerk of Court first before paying
for the filing fee. Make sure to photocopy all your Annexes.

Step 3: Publication

You do not have the liberty to choose which newspaper will publish your Petition. The court
will conduct a raffle and the chosen newspaper will publish and give you the affidavit of
publication. The fees that we paid is P2500 each lawyer, other batches paid P1500 each, others
P650 each. Yes, very expensive. However, our friend filed a petition for recomputation before
the Office of the Clerk of Court and we were able to get Php 1500 refund each. Newspapers
have prescribed rates, so always ask for recomputation. Only one person filed the Petition for
recomputation and it benefited us all. So, if the publication fees are excessive, go to the Clerk of
Court.

Step 4: Hearing

Before the hearing, you have to submit a FORMAL OFFER OF EXHIBITS with the clerk of
court. If you have no copy, my store offers a bundle of Notary Petition plus Formal Offer for a
minimal fee of Php100. The forms are in word format and follow the Efficient Paper Rule.
Bring all originals with you together with the Formal Offer and submit it to the Clerk of Court.
You may submit it on the day of the Hearing but it is advisable to submit it a few days before
the hearing.