Short answer. Yes, generally. Section 19 of Rule 132 classifies documents acknowledged before a notary public — except last wills and testaments — as public documents, alongside official government acts and records, documents treated as public under certain treaties, and required public records of private documents; every other writing counts as private.
What the law says
Documents acknowledged before a notary public except last wills and testaments
Rule 132, Section 19 — Classes of documents. Read the full provision →
Why the public/private distinction matters
Section 19 exists because the two classes of documents are treated very differently once a case gets to the question of proving them. For the purpose of their presentation in evidence, the rule divides documents into public and private, and that classification determines what a party has to show before the document can even be considered — a private document generally needs its execution and authenticity independently proved, while a public document typically does not require that same foundation.
The four categories of public document
The rule lists them specifically: the written official acts or records of the sovereign authority, official bodies and tribunals, and public officers, whether Philippine or foreign; documents acknowledged before a notary public, except last wills and testaments; documents treated as public under a treaty or convention the Philippines has entered with the country of origin; and public records, kept in the Philippines, of private documents that a law requires to be entered there. A notarized contract falls squarely in the second category.
Why last wills and testaments are carved out
The exception for last wills and testaments is deliberate — even when a will has been notarized, the rule does not let notarization alone stand in for the specific proof of due execution that succession law separately requires for wills. That reflects how seriously the law treats the formalities around a document that only takes legal effect after the person who made it can no longer explain or confirm it themselves.
What happens to everything else
The rule closes with a catch-all: all other writings are private. A private document — an ordinary unnotarized letter, an informal agreement, an internal memo — generally has to be authenticated before a court will receive it, typically by someone who saw it signed or written, or by evidence of the genuineness of the signature or handwriting. Knowing which category a document falls into early on shapes exactly what proof a party needs to gather before trial.
Why the classification is worth checking before trial
Because public and private documents carry such different proof burdens, treating a document as public when it is actually private — or the reverse — can leave a party unprepared at the moment the evidence is offered. A contract with an incomplete or defective notarization, for instance, may not qualify for the easier public-document route at all, which is exactly the kind of detail worth confirming with counsel well before the day testimony and documents are actually presented in court.
Related provisions
- Rule 132, Section 19 — Classes of documents
- Rule 132, Section 18 — Right to inspect writing shown to witness
- Rule 132, Section 20 — Proof of private document[s]