Classification of Documents
For purposes of authentication and proof, documents are classified as either public documents or private documents. The classification determines the manner of proof, the need for authentication, the evidentiary effect of the document, and the weight that may be given to its recitals.
A document is evidence when it is offered to prove the contents of a writing, recording, photograph, or other material expression. The public or private character of the document does not depend on the importance of the transaction, the number of persons affected, or the value of the property involved. It depends on the source of the document, the official character of its execution or custody, and whether the law requires its entry in a public record.
Rule 132 recognizes three groups of public documents: written official acts or records of official acts of sovereign authority, official bodies and tribunals, and public officers; documents acknowledged before a notary public, except last wills and testaments; and public records kept in the Philippines of private documents required by law to be entered therein. All other writings are private documents.
Public Documents
Public documents are those that, by reason of their official origin, official custody, notarization, or required registration in a public record, are received in evidence with a special degree of reliability. The law treats them differently because a public officer, notary public, official body, tribunal, or legal registry intervenes in their creation, acknowledgment, recording, or custody.
Official Acts and Official Records
The first class consists of written official acts or records of official acts of sovereign authority, official bodies and tribunals, and public officers in the Philippines or in a foreign country. This includes judgments, orders, resolutions, minutes, certificates, licenses, permits, civil registry entries, land registration records, and other writings made or kept by public officers in the performance of official functions.
The public character of this class rests on the duty of the officer or body to make or keep the record. The record is not public merely because it is found in a government office; it is public because the officer has legal authority or duty to issue, record, preserve, or certify it.
Entries in public records made in the performance of official duty are prima facie evidence of the facts stated in them. The probative value arises from the presumption that official duty has been regularly performed, but the presumption does not make the entries conclusive when competent contrary evidence is presented.
A public record is strongest as to facts that the officer is required or authorized to record from personal knowledge, official observation, reports legally required to be made, or documents lawfully submitted for registration. It is weaker, and may have no independent truth value, as to voluntary statements, legal conclusions, or collateral matters outside the officer's official duty.
Notarized Documents
The second class consists of documents acknowledged before a notary public, except last wills and testaments. A valid notarization converts an otherwise private writing into a public document for evidentiary purposes, makes it admissible without prior proof of due execution and genuineness, and entitles it to full faith and credit upon its face.
Notarization is not an empty formality. The notary public must be authorized, must ascertain the identity of the person acknowledging the document, and must record an acknowledgment that the instrument was freely and voluntarily executed. A document with a defective or unauthorized notarization does not enjoy the evidentiary advantages of a public document.
The exception for last wills and testaments is important because a will, even if notarized or acknowledged, must still comply with the special formalities for wills and the rules on probate. Notarization cannot substitute for attestation, subscription, acknowledgment by the required persons, testamentary capacity, and probate requirements.
A notarized document proves its execution and the date and fact of acknowledgment without the need to call the subscribing witnesses or the notary as a preliminary matter. However, the truth of every statement inside the instrument is not made conclusive by notarization. Fraud, forgery, simulation, lack of authority, mistake, or absence of consent may still be shown by clear and convincing evidence.
Public Records of Required Private Documents
The third class consists of public records kept in the Philippines of private documents required by law to be entered therein. The original writing may have been made by private persons, but the law requires its recording, and the official record kept by the appropriate public office is treated as a public document.
This class covers records maintained because the law requires registration, entry, annotation, or filing as a condition for notice, opposability, preservation, or public monitoring. Examples include records affecting civil status, property, corporate existence, liens, conveyances, and other matters for which the law assigns a public registry or official custodian.
The public record proves that the private document was entered in the official registry and may prove the contents of the recorded document when properly certified. The fact of registration does not, by itself, cure intrinsic invalidity, forge a genuine signature, create authority where none existed, or make false private recitals true.
Private Documents
Private documents are all writings that do not fall under the classes of public documents. They include contracts, receipts, letters, notes, corporate papers not made public by law, private records, emails, text messages, photographs, and other documents prepared, signed, transmitted, or kept by private persons without the official character required for public documents.
A private document offered as authentic must generally be authenticated before it is received in evidence. Authentication means proof that the document is what its proponent claims it to be, and, when relevant, that it was executed or written by the person to whom it is attributed.
Due execution and authenticity of a private document may be shown by a person who saw it executed or written, by evidence of the genuineness of the signature or handwriting, or by other competent evidence connecting the document with its alleged maker. The authentication requirement protects a party from being bound by an unverified writing attributed to that party.
When a private document is not offered as authentic, but merely as the object or circumstance of the controversy, it need only be identified as the document that it is claimed to be. Thus, a forged instrument may be received to prove that the forged instrument existed, was presented, or was relied upon, without first proving that the signature was genuine.
Practical Effects of Classification
| Point of comparison | Public document | Private document |
|---|---|---|
| Source of evidentiary character | Official act, official record, notarization, or required public registration | Private execution, authorship, possession, or transmission |
| Need for preliminary authentication | Generally admissible without proof of due execution and genuineness, subject to proper proof of the public record or certified copy | Generally requires authentication before admission when offered as genuine |
| Evidentiary effect | May be prima facie evidence of official facts stated or evidence of the fact and date of execution, depending on the kind of public document | Proves only what competent evidence and the rules on authentication, relevance, and admissibility allow it to prove |
| Susceptibility to contradiction | Presumptions may be overcome by competent and persuasive contrary evidence | Authenticity, authorship, contents, and binding effect may be disputed unless admitted or otherwise established |
The classification affects admissibility but does not end the inquiry. A public document may still be excluded for irrelevance, hearsay not covered by an exception, violation of the best evidence rule, lack of competent certification, privilege, or other independent grounds. A private document may become admissible once it is properly authenticated or its authenticity is admitted.
Public documents are not all equal in evidentiary weight. Official entries made pursuant to duty are prima facie evidence of the facts stated, while other public documents are generally evidence of the fact that gave rise to their execution and of their date. A notarized sale, for example, proves execution and acknowledgment, but it does not conclusively prove payment, delivery, ownership, capacity, or absence of fraud.
The date appearing in a public document is ordinarily entitled to evidentiary respect because the official act or acknowledgment supplies reliability. In contrast, the date appearing in a private document may require authentication and may be ineffective against third persons unless the law gives it effect through acknowledgment, registration, possession, or other legally recognized circumstances.
Copies and Proof of Public Documents
Because many public documents are kept in official custody, the proponent usually proves them through an official publication or through a copy attested by the officer having legal custody of the record. The certification or attestation supplies the court with assurance that the copy corresponds to the official record.
If the document is an official record of a foreign country, its public nature does not dispense with the need to establish that it is an authentic foreign official record or copy. The proponent must comply with the mode of proof required for foreign official records, including the appropriate attestation, certification, or treaty-based authentication when applicable.
A certified true copy proves the contents of the official record, but the copy does not acquire greater substantive value than the record itself. If the original public record is prima facie evidence only, the certified copy carries the same limited effect.
Electronic and Digital Documents
Electronic documents do not form a separate class outside public and private documents. An electronic civil registry record, electronic court issuance, digital government certificate, or electronically maintained official record may be public if it is an official act or official record. An email, message, spreadsheet, scan, or private database entry is generally private unless the law or official custody gives it public character.
The proponent of an electronic private document must still establish authenticity through evidence showing that the electronic record is what it purports to be. Relevant proof may include testimony of a person with knowledge, system reliability, metadata, electronic signatures, custody, transmission records, or other circumstances tying the record to its alleged source.
A scanned copy of a notarized document should be distinguished from the notarized original. The notarized instrument may be a public document, but the proponent must still account for the status of the copy offered and satisfy the applicable rule on proving the contents of the original when the contents are in dispute.
Admissions and Waiver of Authentication
The need to authenticate a private document may disappear when the adverse party admits its genuineness and due execution. Admission may be express, such as in pleadings, stipulations, requests for admission, or testimony, or it may arise from conduct amounting to recognition of the document.
Genuineness refers to the fact that the document, signature, or writing is not spurious. Due execution refers to the fact that the document was executed in the manner and by the person alleged, with the formal acts necessary for its execution. Admitting one does not always admit every legal effect or factual recital contained in the document.
Failure to deny the genuineness and due execution of an actionable document under the rules on pleadings has consequences in civil cases, but such admission is procedural and limited to the document's authenticity and execution. It does not admit illegality, want of consideration, fraud, mistake, payment, performance, or other defenses that may avoid or defeat the document.
Ancient Documents and Other Exceptions
A private document may be received without the usual proof of authenticity when it qualifies as an ancient document. The doctrine rests on age, proper custody, and freedom from suspicion. These circumstances make fabrication less likely and supply a substitute for ordinary testimonial authentication.
The ancient document rule does not make the contents automatically true. It dispenses with preliminary proof of execution and authenticity, but relevance, competence, hearsay rules, the rule on original documents, and contrary evidence may still affect admissibility and weight.
Notarized documents are also received without the ordinary authentication required for private documents because a valid acknowledgment places them among public documents. This evidentiary privilege depends on a regular notarization; if the notarial act is void, irregular, or unauthorized, the writing may revert to the status of a private document requiring authentication.
Consequences of Misclassification
Misclassifying a private document as public may lead to premature admission without proof of authorship, execution, or genuineness. The adverse party may object on authentication grounds and may move to strike if the defect becomes apparent after admission.
Misclassifying a public document as private may lead to unnecessary testimony from subscribing witnesses or supposed authors, when an official publication, certified copy, or valid notarization would have sufficed. The proponent should identify the precise public character relied upon, because the required mode of proof differs among official records, notarized instruments, and recorded private documents.
The court is not bound by the label placed on a document by the parties. A writing titled "affidavit," "certification," "contract," or "official record" is classified by its legal attributes, not by its caption. The controlling inquiry is whether the document falls within one of the recognized classes of public documents; if it does not, it is private.