Competent Evidence of Identity

In 2004, the Supreme Court modified the rules on notarization.
Before, residence certificates were the usual evidence of identity of a person who swears before a notary public.
Under the 2004 modified rules, a residence certificate is no longer allowed.
This is because the notarial rules require what is called "competent evidence of identity".
In other words, the identity of a person who comes to a notary and swears before him must be competent (reliable).
To be a competent evidence of identity, it must be a government-issued ID, bearing a photograph.
A residence certificate does not have a photograph.
A practical reason why a residence certificate is not competent evidence of identity is because it is unreliable in ascertaining a person's identity these days.
Anyone can actually get a residence certificate, even in behalf of another person.
So the next time you go to a notary public to have a document notarized, don't bring a residence certificate.
Examples of competent evidence of identity are passport, driver's license, tax identification number (TIN) I.D., SSS I.D., GSIS I.D., postal I.D., voter's I.D., senior citizen's I.D., real estate broker's I.D., professional license I.D., Senate I.D., House of Representatives I.D., among others.