Notaries public must be mindful of the significance of a notarial seal affixed on documents. They must inform themselves of the facts they certify to; most importantly, they should not take part or allow themselves to be part of illegal transactions.
The Supreme Court found guilty a lawyer for violating the notarial law, the 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice, and the Code of Professional Responsibility. In a decision penned by Justice Arturo M. Brion, the Court found that the lawyer notarized documents "either without the presence of the affiants or with their forged signatures." By his own admission, the lawyer disclosed that he affixed his signature on documents prepared and drafted by his secretary without reading them and without ascertaining what the documents purported to be, and completely entrusted to his secretary the keeping and the maintenance of his Notarial Practice. The Supreme Court further held that the respondent's age and sickness cannot be cited as reasons to disregard the serious lapses he committed in the performance of his duties as a lawyer and as a notary public. The lawyer cannot escape liability by putting the blame on his secretary. The lawyer himself, not his secretary, should be held accountable for these deeds.
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