is the award or acceptance of an academic degree or diploma. For Filipinos, the term “graduation” usually refers to the graduation ceremonies undergone by graduates who have finished a level of education. Some view a person as having truly graduated only if they have “marched” onstage to accept their diploma during the graduation ceremonies. Thus, graduation may be also considered a coming-of-age ritual for young Filipinos. Graduation ceremonies are held at the end of March or, in some cases, the beginning of April of every year. Filipinos take part in a graduation ceremony every time they complete an educational level. These ceremonies are usually held for graduation from kindergarten, elementary school, high school, vocational school or college, and graduate school. Attire In past decades, elementary school and high school graduates usually wore white: white dresses for girls and white polo shirts and black pants for boys. The same went for kindergarten “graduates” except that girls usually wore identical dresses in a style and color agreed upon by the parents. Recent trends call for togas and mortarboards as standard graduation attire. The Department of Education (DepEd) also recently called for austerity measures, prohibiting extravagant spending and requiring students to wear only their school uniforms under their togas. All graduates usually wear corsages pinned on the left lapel or left breast of their clothing. Graduates of vocational schools and colleges usually wear togas and mortarboards or caps. These are usually black, except for those colleges and universities that have togas made in the school colors. Underneath, the graduates wear formal clothes which may range from “Sunday best” to party attire. Those who finished post-graduate studies usually wear slightly different togas from those who finish undergraduate degrees. They also wear hoods banded with the color associated with their particular post-graduate course. At the country’s national university, University of the Philippines (UP), the indigenous loose garment sablay is used as an academic costume since 2000 after it switched from the traditional cap and toga. It is traditionally worn over an ecru barong Tagalog and black pants for males, and a white or ecru dress for females. Sablay is worn by candidates for graduation at the right shoulder, and is then moved to the left shoulder after the President of the university confers their degree. In 2020, DepEd proposed the use of sablay instead of cap and toga in the elementary and secondary graduation rites,