This page documents an English Wikipedia style guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense, and occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcut: WP:MOSPHIL

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

Contents 1 Adjective form of the Philippines 2 Names 2.1 Historical figures 2.2 Modern figures 3 Places 3.1 Provinces 3.2 Municipalities 3.3 Cities 3.3.1 Exceptions 4 Languages and dialects 5 Nationality

[edit] Adjective form of the Philippines

• Philippine is generally used with inanimate objects. Example, Philippine National Anthem or Philippine Senate.
• 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.
• Philippino is simply mistaken.

[edit] Names

[edit] 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 Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonzo Realonda

[edit] 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

[edit] Places

Diacritics are not to be used in place names, hence La Union rather than La Unión. Exceptions are places such as Parañaque.

[edit] 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).

[edit] 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.

[edit] Cities

Non-independent cities should be affixed with the word "City" and the name of the province in which it is located. Independent cities should be affixed with the word "City" only. Examples:

• San Fernando City, La Union
• Zamboanga City
• Lipa City

[edit] Exceptions

Exceptions is in the case of Manila, and to the "special" cities of:

• Science City of Muñoz
• Island Garden City of Samal

These specially named cities are named according to their city charters. Exceptions to the exception: Cities whose "special name" are not found at the city charter, such as "Historical City of Caloocan," which is found at Caloocan City.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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