Executing a **Special Power of Attorney While Abroad at Sea (Philippines)

1. Why this matters for seafarers and Filipinos at sea

Many Filipinos working on ships (seafarers, cruise staff, offshore workers) need to transact in the Philippines while they are literally in the middle of the ocean. Common examples:

Selling, mortgaging, or leasing family land or a house
Managing bank accounts, loans, and investments
Claiming benefits, insurance, or retirement proceeds
Handling business operations or signing employment-related documents
Filing or pursuing cases, or signing settlement documents

Because you can’t be physically present in the Philippines, you often need a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) so a trusted person (your attorney-in-fact) can legally act for you.

The complication: you’re abroad and often at sea, where access to notaries, embassies, or consulates is limited. This is where understanding the rules and options becomes critical.

2. Legal nature of a Special Power of Attorney under Philippine law

Under the Civil Code on Agency, an SPA is a written authorization where:

Principal – you (the seafarer/Filipino at sea)
Agent / Attorney-in-fact – the person you authorize (spouse, parent, sibling, etc.)

Some acts must be specifically authorized in a special power of attorney. The Civil Code lists several, including (paraphrased):

Selling, purchasing, mortgaging, or otherwise encumbering real property
Making substantial acts of ownership (like selling a business)
Making or endorsing negotiable instruments
Compromising or submitting disputes to arbitration
Making loans or borrowing in the principal’s name
Creating or releasing real rights (like usufruct, easements, etc.)

Also, for certain acts (e.g., sale or mortgage of real property), the transaction itself must be in a public instrument (notarized document). As a result, in practice, the SPA that authorizes such acts is also expected to be:

In writing, and
Notarized (i.e., converted into a public document).

Unnotarized SPAs can still be valid between the parties, but many government offices, banks, courts, and registries will not accept them.

3. Basic formal requirements of an SPA

An SPA typically must:

Be in writing
Identify the parties clearly
- Full name, citizenship, civil status, address, and identification details of the principal
- Same details for the attorney-in-fact
Contain clear, specific authority
- For real property: describe the property (TCT/Tax Dec number, location, area, improvements)
- For banking: specify bank name, branch, type of transaction (withdraw, deposit, close account, loan, etc.)
- For cases: specify the case, court, and what the attorney-in-fact can do (file, sign pleadings, settle, etc.)
Be signed by the principal
Be notarized or consularized if it will be used in transactions that require public documents or will be presented to government offices, banks, or courts.

4. Executing an SPA when you are abroad

If you are outside the Philippines, there are three typical routes for creating an SPA that will be recognized in the Philippines:

4.1. Before a Philippine Embassy or Consulate

You personally appear before a Philippine consul or consular officer.
The consular officer acts like a Philippine notary public for Filipinos abroad.
The SPA is signed in their presence and acknowledged.
The resulting document is typically treated in the Philippines as a public document.

Pros:

High level of acceptance by Philippine banks, courts, and offices.
No need for apostille/legalization in the Philippines.

Cons:

You must be able to go to a port city where a Philippine Embassy/Consulate or Honorary Consulate is located. This is hard if you have short port stays or your ship doesn’t dock near one.

4.2. Before a foreign notary public, then apostilled/legalized

If you cannot reach a Philippine consular office, you can:

Execute the SPA before a local (foreign) notary public in the country where your ship docks.
Have the document apostilled (if both that country and the Philippines are parties to the Apostille Convention) or authenticated/legalized through the usual diplomatic/consular process.

In practice, this means:

You sign before the foreign notary.
The foreign notary notarizes your SPA.
You bring the notarized SPA to the relevant local office (e.g., Ministry of Foreign Affairs or similar) for apostille or authentication.
Once apostilled/legalized, the SPA can generally be used in the Philippines as a foreign public document.

Pros:

Useful if no Philippine consulate is accessible.

Cons:

You need to know the local procedure for apostille/legalization.
Process time might be longer than your ship’s stay in port.
Some Philippine offices may still be more familiar and comfortable with consularized documents.

4.3. Unnotarized SPA executed abroad

You can, in theory, sign an SPA abroad without notarization (e.g., you type, print, and sign it on board). This is what actually happens to many seafarers.

Between you and your attorney-in-fact, such a document is still an agency agreement.
But many institutions in the Philippines will not accept it as proof of authority for “sensitive” transactions, especially:
- Real estate registration and dealings
- Bank transactions
- Court appearances and pleadings
- BIR, SSS, GSIS, Pag-IBIG, PhilHealth documents

So in practice, if you want your attorney-in-fact to deal with land, houses, loans, or major financial transactions, an unnotarized SPA is often not enough.

5. Executing an SPA while “at sea”

Legally, notarization has a strict rule: the notary (or consular officer) must see you personally appear before them at the time of acknowledgment.

5.1. Can you notarize while literally out on the ocean?

Ships are usually considered under the jurisdiction of the flag state, but ordinary civil notarization requires a person authorized under local notarial law.
A ship captain is generally not automatically a notary public (unless they separately hold that office under some foreign law).
Therefore, it is very rare and generally unsafe to assume a document “notarized on board” by a non-notary will be recognized in the Philippines.

5.2. Practically workable approach

Common real-world pattern:

While at sea, you draft and sign the text of your SPA (private document).
Once you dock at a port:
- You go to a Philippine consulate or a local foreign notary.
- You sign the document again (or re-acknowledge it) in front of that officer.
- The officer’s acknowledgment is what makes it a public document.

The important legal moment is when you personally appear and sign/acknowledge before the notary or consular officer. The prior signature while at sea is not what counts for notarization; it’s essentially like a draft.

6. Best practice: Execute SPA before deployment

From both legal and practical perspectives, the safest and easiest path is:

While you are still in the Philippines, before joining ship:
Execute a properly drafted SPA:
- Before a Philippine notary public (if you are in the Philippines), or
- Before a Philippine consular office if you’re already abroad but before boarding.

Benefits:

You’re not racing against port schedules.
You can comfortably consult a lawyer.
You can sign multiple SPAs (e.g., one for property matters, one for banking, one general but carefully worded).
Your family already has a notarized SPA ready when issues arise.

If your contract is long, you can indicate in the SPA that it remains valid until revoked or until a certain date (e.g., 3–5 years), depending on what you’re comfortable with.

7. Content of a well-drafted SPA for seafarers

7.1. Proper party details

Full name, age, citizenship, civil status, and Philippine address of the principal
Passport number and/or seafarer’s book number
Full name, age, civil status, and address of the attorney-in-fact
Relationship (e.g., “my lawful wife,” “my mother,” “my brother”)

7.2. Clear and specific powers

You need to be specific, especially for acts that the law requires to be expressly stated in a special power. Typical clauses:

Authority to sell, mortgage, or lease specific parcels of land, including:
- Title number, lot number, area, location, and improvements
- Power to sign Deeds of Sale, Deeds of Mortgage, Deeds of Absolute Sale, and any related documents
Authority to manage bank accounts:
- Withdraw, deposit, open, close, transfer, apply for loans, sign loan agreements and related documents
Authority to claim and receive benefits:
- From SSS, GSIS, Pag-IBIG, PhilHealth, POEA/DMW/OWWA-related benefits, company benefits, insurance claims
Authority to represent in government agencies:
- BIR, local government, LRA/Registry of Deeds, etc.
Authority to represent in legal proceedings:
- To hire and instruct counsel, sign pleadings, compromise, submit to arbitration, or sign settlements (if you truly want to give this).

You can also limit powers:

For example, “to sell only at a price not lower than Php X,” or
“to lease for a term not exceeding 3 years,” or
“to borrow up to a maximum of Php X in my name.”

7.3. Duration and revocation

You may:

State that the SPA is effective from a certain date and remains in force until:
- A specific date, or
- Revoked in writing by you.

Revocation:

As principal, you can revoke an SPA.
It is important to notify the attorney-in-fact and, where applicable, the third parties (e.g., bank or buyer).
For notarized SPAs, there are practices such as notarial revocation and even annotation of revocation; this is best handled with a lawyer.

8. Use of SPAs for real property transactions

When your attorney-in-fact uses an SPA to sell or mortgage land or a house:

The SPA must be in a public instrument (notarized/consularized/apostilled).
The SPA is often attached to the deed of sale/mortgage that will be registered with the Registry of Deeds.
Some practitioners have the SPA itself annotated on the title or recorded in the notarial registry for easier recognition.

Typical process for a land sale using SPA:

SPA is presented to the buyer, their lawyer, and the notary.
Attorney-in-fact signs the Deed of Absolute Sale “for and in behalf of [Principal] by virtue of Special Power of Attorney dated ….”
SPA + Deed are submitted to BIR, LGU (for transfer tax), and Registry of Deeds.
BIR may require that the SPA clearly authorizes the sale and is duly notarized/consularized.

9. Recognition issues: Foreign notarization and Philippine offices

Even if you complied with foreign notarization and apostille/legalization, Philippine agencies and private entities may:

Scrutinize the completeness of the SPA’s content, and
Ask for translations if the SPA is not in English or Filipino.

So, it is often safest to:

Draft the SPA in English,
Use clear Philippine-style property descriptions and references, and
Ensure the notarial/consular acknowledgment is complete (with names, dates, place, and capacity of the signatory).

10. Electronic / remote notarization considerations

There have been rules and temporary guidelines about e-notarization or remote notarization in the Philippines (for example during the pandemic), but:

Philippine notaries generally have territorial limits.
They usually cannot notarize a person who is physically outside the Philippines.
Some foreign jurisdictions have remote online notarization (RON), but whether a purely online RON document executed while you are at sea will be readily accepted by Philippine offices is not always clear and may vary by institution.

As of now, the safest approach remains:

Personal physical appearance before:
- A Philippine consular officer abroad; or
- A local foreign notary public, followed by apostille/legalization.

11. Tax and regulatory use of SPA

Your attorney-in-fact, acting under SPA, may:

Sign BIR documents (e.g., tax returns, capital gains tax forms, documentary stamp tax forms) related to a transaction expressly authorized in the SPA.
Process transfer of title, tax declarations, and permits with the local government.
Receive proceeds of sale, insurance, or benefits in your name, if properly authorized.

Because these actions have financial and tax consequences, the SPA should be drafted carefully so there is no doubt that:

The attorney-in-fact can sign all necessary documents, and
They can receive or deposit money on your behalf.

12. Risk management and safeguards for the seafarer

Because an SPA can grant very broad powers, especially if you are stuck at sea and cannot monitor things closely, it is wise to:

Choose your attorney-in-fact carefully
- Someone you deeply trust, usually a spouse or parent.
Limit the SPA if possible
- Specify what property may be sold or mortgaged.
- Set minimum prices or maximum amounts.
- Limit the timeframe (e.g., only during a particular contract period).
Maintain documentation
- Keep a scanned copy of the SPA.
- Inform your bank or counterparties that your authority is limited to what is written.
Consider having separate SPAs
- One for real property, with strict limits.
- One for benefits and administrative matters.
- One for business operations if you own a business.
Plan revocation procedures
- In case of estrangement or loss of trust, know how to revoke the SPA and notify institutions.

13. Practical checklist for a seafarer

Before deployment:

Identify a trusted attorney-in-fact.
List transactions you anticipate (property, banking, benefits, etc.).
Have an SPA drafted (ideally with legal assistance).
Execute and notarize the SPA in the Philippines (or at a Philippine consulate if already abroad).
Leave the original with your attorney-in-fact; keep scans or photos.

If already abroad / at sea with no SPA:

Draft an SPA text (preferably with legal input from home if possible).
When docked, find:
- Philippine consulate; or
- Local foreign notary who can notarize your document.
If using foreign notary, arrange for:
- Apostille/legalization.
Send original to the Philippines via secure courier.
Keep copies and tracking numbers.

If you need to revoke or modify your SPA:

Execute a written revocation, preferably notarized.
Notify your attorney-in-fact.
Notify key third parties (banks, buyers, agencies).
Consider publishing or registering revocation where appropriate, especially if the original SPA was notarized and widely used.

14. Final notes

A Special Power of Attorney is often the lifeline that allows Filipino seafarers and workers at sea to handle family and financial obligations at home.
The main legal issues revolve around form (public vs private document), place and manner of execution (notary vs consul vs foreign notary), and scope of authority granted.
Planning before you leave is almost always better than scrambling to execute an SPA during a brief port call or while the ship is at anchor.

Because specific situations (e.g., type of property, country where the ship docks, bank policies, court requirements) can vary, it is still wise to have your particular SPA reviewed by a Philippine lawyer who understands both agency law and the practical requirements of the agencies or institutions where it will be used.