Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Philippines-related articles

To write and edit Philippines-related articles, please follow these conventions.

Adjective form of the Philippines

• Philippine may be used with inanimate objects or people. Example, Philippine National Anthem, or Philippine writers.
• Filipino may be used with either inanimate objects or people, though preference swings towards the latter. It is also the name of the national language.
• Filipina, the feminine form of Filipino, may be optionally used, when dealing with people only.
• Pinoy and the feminine form Pinay is the slang equivalent to, respectively Filipino and Filipina, and apply to people only.
• Pilipino or Pilipina are rarely used in English. They may be found in the former name of the Filipino language as well as in the acronym OPM, or Original Pilipino Music.
• Phillippino, Phillipino, Philippino, or Philipino are simply mistaken.

Names

Historical figures

Names of historical figures (roughly those who were alive during Spanish rule) should generally follow Spanish conventions outlined at Iberian naming customs. The article title should include the given name and the surname. The first mention of the subject should be in bold and include the whole name, including mother's maiden name and any other names. Exceptions are allowed, especially if the subject is widely known by his or her whole name, as in the case of Miguel López de Legazpi.

Diacritics or accent marks are to be preserved even if they are unused today.

• Example:
  
  • Article name: José Rizal
    
  • First mention: José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda

Modern figures

Names of modern figures (roughly those who were born during the 20th century) should follow current Philippine naming conventions where the middle name is generally the mother's maiden name. The article title should include the given name and the surname. The first mention of the subject should be in bold and include the whole name, with the mother's maiden name (if used) between the first name and surname.

Names are expected to be written according to contemporary Philippine usage and should not be "corrected" to conform to Spanish usage. This means, in general, that no diacritics are to be used unless they are widely used, as in the case of the name José and the surname Osmeña. Furthermore, this also means that surnames such as Dela Cruz should not be written de la Cruz.

• Example 1: Corazon Aquino, not Corazón Aquino
• Example 2: Carlos Polestico Garcia, not Carlos Poléstico García, or Carlos García y Poléstico

Places

Diacritics except in ñ are not to be used in place names, hence La Union rather than La Unión and Parañaque instead of Paranaque.

Provinces

The name of the province should be written by itself, wherever possible. Furthermore, in the case of a province sharing the same name with a municipality or island, then the name of the province takes precedence unless it's a common name. For example, Cebu and Leyte. The word Province should not be placed after the province's name, unless it is part of the province's name. The only province this applies to is Mountain Province.

If using the name by itself isn't possible for whatever reason, then (province) should be placed after the province's name. Examples: Antique (province), Abra (province), and Laguna (province).

Municipalities

Municipalities should be suffixed by the name of the province in which it's located. Examples: Daet, Camarines Norte and Oslob, Cebu. For municipalities in Metro Manila, it should be affixed with "Metro Manila". Example: Pateros, Metro Manila.

Cities

General Usage

As a general rule, cities should neither be affixed with the word "City" nor the name of the province in which it is located. Examples:

• Kabankalan instead of Kabankalan, Negros Occidental
• Tacloban instead of Tacloban City
• Tagbilaran instead of Tagbilaran City, Bohol

When to use the word City as part of the city name (e.g., Cityname City)

Whenever a city has the same name as that of a Philippine province or region, the word "City" may be provided as part of the city name. Examples:

• Cebu City
• Zamboanga City
• Quezon City
• Davao City

Capital city or town with the same name as that of other Philippine city or town

The capital city or town, being the preferred primary topic, should have no disambiguation; while the non-capital Philippine city or town should be disambiguated with Cityname, Provincename format. Examples:

• The capital of Negros Occidental should be Bacolod, while the municipality with the same name in Lanao del Norte should be written as Bacolod, Lanao del Norte.
• The capital of Southern Leyte should be Maasin, while the municipality with the same name in Iloilo should be written as Maasin, Iloilo.

When to use Provincial name as part of the city name (e.g., Cityname, Provincename)

If the name of the city has other uses, the most common way to disambiguate is to use the provincial name after the name of the city (e.g., Cityname, Provincename). If it is in Metro Manila, use Cityname, Metro Manila. This is also applicable to independent and highly urbanized cities, except those names which are unique in the Philippines but not in other countries. The provincial name purports to describe the general area and not necessarily as the mother political unit of the city.

City with the same name as that of other Philippine city or town

Examples:

• Naga, Camarines Sur
• San Carlos, Negros Occidental
• Roxas, Capiz
• Tanauan, Batangas

Component city with the same name as that of other non Philippine city or town

Examples:

• Isabela, Basilan
• Legazpi, Albay
• San Juan, Metro Manila

Two or more capital Philippine cities or towns sharing the same name

Examples:

• San Fernando, La Union
• San Fernando, Pampanga

When to use the word Philippines as part of the city name (e.g., Cityname, Philippines)

Places are often disambiguated by the country in which they lie, if this is sufficient. In case of highly urbanized city with the same name as that of another non-Philippine municipality; but no other Philippine city or town with the same name, use CityName, Philippines. This method can also be used if it is disambiguated with other personality or thing (aside from another foreign municipality) which is significantly well known enough to be considered as the primary topic. Example:

• Lucena, Philippines
• Lapu-Lapu, Philippines

Special Title

If the city has special title in addition to the word "city", use the plain name. If necessary, combine it with other disambiguation method. Examples

• Muñoz, Nueva Ecija should be used instead of Science City of Muñoz.
• Samal, Davao del Norte should be used instead of Island Garden City of Samal.

Languages and dialects

In general, the use of the term dialects to refer to Philippine languages should be avoided. For more information on editing language-related articles, please see Wikipedia:WikiProject Languages.

When using a language's name in an article, verify the name in the language's Wikipedia article or in reference works concerning languages of the Philippines (such as Ethnologue) to ensure consistency.

This means using Hiligaynon over Ilonggo or Visayan, Cebuano over Visayan or Bisaya, Kapampangan over Pampango or Pampangan, Bikol over Bicol or Bicolano, Ilokano over Ilocano or Iluco, etc.

The use of diacritics is acceptable only in the article about the language itself in order to indicate correct pronunciation.

Nationality

Avoid explicit or tacit declarations of who is and who is not Filipino, as this against WP:NPOV.

An example of a statement to avoid is:

Foreign minorities like xxx and yyy comprise z% of the Philippine population.

This could be worded without the POV:

Minorities like xxx and yyy comprise z% of the Philippine population