By the Philippine News Agency The Apostille Convention on Authentication of Documents will take effect on May 14, 2019 in the Philippines. (MANILA BULLETIN) The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in its advisory said it will no longer issue authentication certificates starting Tuesday next week. Instead it will affix an "Apostille" to documents for use abroad. The Apostille is a certificate giving a “public document” legal effect in other countries. "After authentication by the DFA, there is no more need for authentication (legalization) by the concerned Foreign Embassies or Consulates General if the country or territory of destination of the authenticated document is already a member of the Apostille Convention," DFA said in an advisory Tuesday. In the same manner, public documents executed in Apostille member countries and territories (except Austria, Finland, Germany and Greece) which will be used in the Philippines no longer have to be authenticated by the Philippine Embassy or Consulate General once Apostillized. The previous process of authentication, however, still applies in countries and territories which are not Apostille-contracting parties. "Documents still have to be authenticated by the Philippine Embassy or Consulate General before they can be used in the Philippines. Also, there is still a need for authentication (legalization) by the concerned Foreign Embassies or Consulates General if the country of destination of the authenticated document is not yet a member of the Apostille Convention," it said. Authentication fees will remain at P100 (regular processing) and P200 (expedited processing) per document. For the updated list of Apostille-contracting parties, concerned parties can visit https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?..