Special Power Of Attorney From US To The Philippines

When I left Philippines, I also left some properties that were under my name such as my house where my parents are living in right now. It is located in Cagayan de Oro City and now my parents wants to move back to Davao City, where our hometown is. So, we decided to just sell the house in Cagayan de Oro. But since I won't be able to do it myself cos I'm in the US right now, I issued a Special Power of Attorney for my parents to give them the right to sign in my behalf.

Philippine Government implemented a rule for documents that are executed, signed or issued in the United States and intended to be used or presented in the Philippines must bear a consular notarization or authentication, as the case may be, in order for such documents to be accorded legal effect in the Philippines. Examples of these documents are Special Powers of Attorney, General Powers of Attorney, Affidavits, Deeds, Contracts, Assignments, Letters of Patent, Articles of Incorporation, Certificates of Birth, Marriage or Death and other official documents issued by U.S. authorities within the Consulate's jurisdiction.

And this is how I did mine after I got my Special Power of Attorney (thanks to my mother-in-law's boss who's an attorney):

1. Went to the Notary Public to have the SPA notarized for $5.00 per sign. You need to have two witnesses aside from the notary public to sign on the document. In my case, I only have my husband with me, so we asked someone from the notary public's office to perform as a witness.

2. Brought the notarized SPA to the County Clerk to certify the official authority of the Notary Public to perform notarial functions for $24.00 (5 copies). In my case, I went to the Notary Public in our County Office so I had the notarization and certification all in one place. County Clerk kept one copy but it said that it will be sent back to us within two weeks.

3. Sent the notarized and certified SPA to the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles cos we are under their jurisdiction. Click here to see all Philippine Consulates in the US, their address, contact numbers, and jurisdictions. Along with the SPA is a cashier's check worth $31.00 ($25.00 for the Authentication fee and $6.00 for return shipping). They'd also accept postal money order.

After a week, I have my authenticated SPA back and ready to be sent to the Philippines. Kudos to the Philippine Consulate General in LA and it's subordinates for a prompt service. I am so pleased by how quick it was. I also appreciate the immediate response I received through E-mail [Office of the Legal Officer: (213) 637-3004 | legal_pcgla@earthlink.net] though it was disappointing to call them cos with almost 50 calls I made to them, I was only answered once. It will bring me to a voice mail that seems to be full cos it won't let me leave a message at all. That's why I ended up contacting them through E-mail which satisfied me by any means.

I am glad to share these experienced here as a way to help those who would go through the same process. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment on this post or on any part of this blog and I'd try my best to answer them.