Template talk:Cite PH act

Suggestion

I suggest that this be deptecated and replaced with a template having a different name and some changes in the specification of requirements.

This template was WP:BOLDly created only just today and is currently not widely used, so it will not be difficult to change.

Currently, the template passes its parameters to {{Cite PH act/core}}, defaulting the chamber paraameteer to Republic if it is empty. the /core template then spits out wikitext formatted according to rules coded therein.

I think that changes are needed because Philippine laws/statutes at the national level did not always have Act in their titles and, if they do, the word Act sometime does not have a prefix (and defaulting to a prefix of Republic is a problem); see List of Philippine laws#Designations used for Philippine laws.

It seems to me that it doesn't make much sense to have a formatting template such as this which works for some Philippine laws but not for others. Can we work together to come up with a version of this which is more universally applicable? Towards that end, I will mention this at Wikipedia_talk:Tambayan_Philippines. Wtmitchell (talk) (earlier Boracay Bill) 06:52, 5 November 2014 (UTC)

{{Infobox legislation}} already does this. See Rizal Law. –HTD 12:12, 5 November 2014 (UTC)

Category:Law citation templates has similar templates for other countries. Almost all of the recent laws do have the word "Act" in them (exception: "Codes"). They're either at the start "An Act <subject of the law>" or at the end "<subject of the law> Act of <year>". Only the "Chamber" parameter would be an issue. –HTD 15:01, 5 November 2014 (UTC)

No argument. I would prefer to see this named {{Cite PH law}} instead of {{Cite PH act}}, but a redirect would take care of that if there is resistance to that renaming. Without thinking about it very much, I would suggest replacing {{{chamber}}} with {{{type}}}, supporting BP, act (or ACT or Act), CA, RA, PD, PP, EO, AO, MO, MC, GO, SO (some of those are not listed here, but see Chapter 2 here) and either erroring unsupported content there or erroring if empty and using verbatim whatever unsupported input is supplied (e.g., perhaps |type=Malay Municipal Ordinance). Wtmitchell (talk) (earlier Boracay Bill) 23:55, 5 November 2014 (UTC)

I originally wrote this with its title in mind, i.e. "Act" rather than "Law". (I didn't at the time know about Batas Pambansa, which are not called "Acts" anyway but seem to carry the prefix "blg"). Almost the entire law of the Philippines is called an Act, distinguished by the nature of government (for which I nominated |chamber=). Albeit the early acts didn't have any type, but are usually distinguished as "Public Act" rather than "Act". The rest are either Commonwealth Acts, or Republic Acts. This template is a clone of {{cite act}}.

While it is feasible to expand this template to include other forms or ordinance, to me it isn't entirely sensible, and it might be better to develop siblings such as {{cite PH eo}}. I have encountered very few law citations other than to acts. This template is just to ensure uniformity of presentation. Unbuttered parsnip (talk) mytime= Mon 11:16, wikitime= 03:16, 10 November 2014 (UTC)

"Blg." means "bilang", or "number." Therefore, "Batas Pambansa Blg." translates to "National Law (Act?) No." –HTD 11:58, 10 November 2014 (UTC)

I have extended (amended) the options for |chamber=. This must now be one of

• Act
• CA
• BP
• PD
• PP
• EO
• RA

with default remaining as if RA. Like I said, this is really only to produce some sort of uniformity in the presentation of citations.
BTW (1) I'm sure I came across something called a Commission Act, but I don't see it in the list of law categories.
BTW (2) These days the Official Gazette is a good (and searchable) source for law. It is supported by a company which can also supply you with a CD of all Philippine laws for only 21000+ pesos. Unbuttered parsnip (talk) mytime= Fri 21:37, wikitime= 13:37, 14 November 2014 (UTC)

Re "Act" vs. "Public Act" as a designation, I'm not a lawyer, but I've only seen them referred to as "Acts". The National Library has a noncirculating five volume reference work titled "Public Laws Annotated (From the establishment of the Philippine Commission on September 1, 1900 up to the inauguration of the Philippine Commonwealth on November 15, 1935)" This is copyright University of the Philippines 1965, so I imagine that the UP library also has this available. The five volumes contain a total of 1,800 "Acts" designated numerically in the tables of contents in a column headed "Act No." I am reading this from copies of the tables of contents which I xeroxed some time ago for my own reference, as I occasionally see mention of "Act No. NN" with a number given but no other info; with this, I can flesh that out with the title of the act. Wtmitchell (talk) (earlier Boracay Bill) 22:55, 14 November 2014 (UTC)

(addition) I see that there are probably more than just the five volumes for which I have TOC copies. Volume 5 coverage ends at 1907, and Acts continued to be issued up until 1935. I happened to realize this when I looked at Act No. 2874 (the first Public Land Act of 1919; superseded, as I understand it, by CA141 in 1936). CA141 is still in effect, as amended by PD437, PD615, PD635, PD763, PD1073, PD1361, RA1273, RA6940, RA9176, and probably by other instruments. Wtmitchell (talk) (earlier Boracay Bill) 06:01, 15 November 2014 (UTC)

I have added HB (House Bill) to the list. Unbuttered parsnip (talk) mytime= Thu 08:04, wikitime= 00:04, 11 December 2014 (UTC)