SUMMARY OF AUTHENTICATION OF DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE WRITINGS) PUBLIC DOCUMENTS Definition

Any instrument authorized by a competent official with solemnities required by law.

PRIVATE DOCUMENTS
A deed or instrument by a private person, without the intervention of a public notary or other person legally authorized, by which document some disposition or agreement is proved, evidenced or set forth.

Types/Classification

(1) Written official acts or records of official acts of the sovereign authority, official bodies and tribunals and public officers, whether of the Philippines or of a foreign country; (2) Documents acknowledged before a notary public except last wills and testaments; and (3) Public records, kept in the Philippines, of private documents required by law to be entered therein.

All other writings are private documents.

As to Authentication

Admissible WITHOUT FURTHER PROOF OF DUE EXECUTION, GENUINENESS OR AUTHENTICATION.

Before a private document is admitted in evidence, it MUST BE AUTHENTICATED, except: (1) ancient documents; (2) documents whose authenticity are judicially admitted by opponent; (3) documents bearing a certification of acknowledgment; and (4) replies to letters. (1) By any one who saw the writing executed; (2) By evidence of the genuineness of the handwriting of the maker; or (3) By a subscribing witness.

Methods of Authentication
Entries in public records made in the performance of a duty by a public officer are PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE (good until rebutted by reliable contradictory evidence) of the FACTS therein stated. Evidence even AGAINST A THIRD PERSON.

Probative Value

As to Persons Bound

Binds ONLY THE PARTIES WHO EXECUTED THEM OR THEIR PRIVIES insofar as DUE EXECUTION AND DATE of document are concerned.

Certifications issued by Legal Custodian

Certification attests NOT ONLY TO THE EXISTENCE of the original copy in custody of the certifying officer, BUT ALSO TO ITS GENUINENESS. Public Records of Public Documents

Certification issued and made admissible in evidence attests only AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF THE ORIGINAL, but NOT TO ITS GENUINENESS. Public Records of Private Documents (1) Proved by the original record, or by a copy thereof as attested by the legal custodian of the record; (2) Appropriate certificate that such officer has the custody.

As part of Public Records (Mode of Authentication)

(1) Attestation must state that the copy is a correct copy of the original, or a specific part thereof, as the case may be; (2) The attestation must be under the official seal of the attesting officer, if there be any.