Electronic signatures in the Philippines

What the law says

The Electronic Commerce Act of 2000 (Republic Act No. 8792) applies to data messages and electronic documents used in commercial and non-commercial activities. Section 8 makes an electronic signature equivalent to a person's signature on a written document if it is proved that a prescribed procedure, not alterable by the parties interested in the document, existed under which: a method identifies the party to be bound and shows their access to the document for their consent or approval; the method is reliable and appropriate for the purpose; the party had to execute or provide the signature to proceed with the transaction; and the other party is authorised and enabled to verify the signature.

Section 9 then presumes that the signature is the signature of the person it correlates to and was affixed with the intention of signing or approving the document, unless the person relying on it knows of defects in it, or their reliance is not reasonable. Section 16 adds that a contract is not denied validity or enforceability on the sole ground that it is in the form of an electronic document.

In court, the Supreme Court's Rules on Electronic Evidence (A.M. No. 01-7-01-SC) admit an authenticated electronic signature as the functional equivalent of a signature on a written document. It can be authenticated by evidence of the method or process used, by other means provided by law, or by any other means satisfactory to the judge. Digital signatures backed by a certification authority's certificate get further presumptions under the same Rules.

The laws that apply

• Electronic Commerce Act of 2000 (Republic Act No. 8792): section 5(e) (what an electronic signature is), section 7 (formalities for validity are unchanged), sections 8 and 9 (recognition and presumptions), section 16 (contracts).
• Rules on Electronic Evidence (A.M. No. 01-7-01-SC): Rules 5 and 6: authenticating electronic documents and electronic signatures in court.
• Civil Code (Republic Act No. 386): Article 1358 (acts and contracts that must appear in a public document) and Article 1648 (unrecorded leases).

Where an electronic signature is not enough

RA 8792 has no list of excluded documents. Instead, section 7 says that the Act does not vary any existing legal requirement on the formalities a document needs to be valid. Where another law asks for more than a signature, that law still applies. Article 1358 of the Civil Code, for example, says these must appear in a public document:

• Acts and contracts that create, transmit, modify or extinguish real rights over immovable property
• The cession, repudiation or renunciation of hereditary rights
• A power to administer property, or any other power whose object is an act that appears, or should appear, in a public document
• The cession of actions or rights arising from an act that appears in a public document

For a private agreement, a public document usually means a notarised one, and an electronic signature is not a notarisation. The Rules on Electronic Evidence treat a document electronically notarised under the Supreme Court's rules as a public document, and the Court promulgated Rules on Electronic Notarization (A.M. No. 24-10-14-SC) in 2025; notarial wills stay under the 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice.

Under Article 1648 of the Civil Code, a lease that is not recorded does not bind third persons.

What PQC Imza is, and what it is not

In the Philippines, a PQC Imza signature is an electronic signature in the sense of RA 8792. Section 8 asks for proof of a procedure, and PQC Imza records one for every signature: how the signer was identified, the exact file they signed, and a public verification page where the other party, or anyone holding the PDF, can check it. It is not a digital signature backed by a certification authority's certificate, and it is not a notarisation.

PQC Imza is an electronic signature service. Each signature is made on the signer's phone with ML-DSA, the post-quantum signature standard NIST published in 2024 (FIPS 204), and is bound to the exact file that was signed. Signers verify their identity in the app by reading the chip in their passport or ID card, and every signature records how its signer was identified.

It is not a qualified, certified or government-accredited digital signature, and PQC Imza is not a licensed or accredited certification authority in any country. Where a law asks for that kind of signature, or for a handwritten signature, a notary or registration, use what the law asks for.