All over the country, graduating students in academic gowns (called toga by many, although they have no resemblance to the ancient and traditional Roman toga) and mortar board with tassel will soon gather in schools to receive their diplomas.
In a country which values its educational system, graduation is a big event to families and the community. Families proudly adorn their walls with photos of their graduating children in black caps and gowns. Elementary and high schools have taken up the tradition, with white caps and gowns.
This year, however, this old tradition of formal graduation wear will give way in the nation’s public schools to a simpler “sablay,” an indigenous loose garment draped across the body, worn over the traditional “barong” for men and “baro at saya” for women.
The University of the Philippines pioneered the use of the “sablay” instead of the traditional toga that Philippine schools inherited from the Americans who, in turn, inherited it from it from Europe. The toga, in particular, is an ancient Roman costume that came to be identified for use in formal occasions.
UP introduced the use of the “sablay” in graduation rites in 1990 and officially adopted it in 2000. It is a broad loop of cloth inspired by the “malong” of Muslim Mindanao, with the initials “UP” inscribed in the indigenous Babaylan letters of pre-Hispanic Philippines. It is draped over the right shoulder, diagonally across the body to the left hip. It is ceremonially shifted to the left shoulder after the graduate is officially conferred the degree.
Last month, Undersecretary Alain del Pascua of the Department of Education confirmed on-line reports that the DepEd was poised to use the “sablay” in public high and elementary school graduation rites for a number of reasons. The academic gown is impractical in the Philippine summer heat. It a reminder of the country’s colonial past. The “sablay” will help promote local culture and national diversity as it will make use of local textiles and designs of indigenous peoples in the country. And it will support and sustain local and traditional weaving enterprises all over the country.
Last weekend, Malacanang, through presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo, supported the DepEd proposal to make the “sablay” the standard graduation wear in public high and elementary schools. This month we will thus see its introduction in graduation rites all over the country.
The toga or academic gown will remain standard graduation wear in private schools following their own traditions. In time, some of them may accept the reasoning for the shift in public schools to the natïve “sablay” -- an end to the colonial toga, the Philippine summer heat which makes the black academic gown so impractical, and the boost it will give the Filipino weaving industry.