Now, he would get to wear one—and as a senator at that—when the impeachment trial of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez begins possibly in May at the resumption of the Senate sessions.

Lapid and the 21 other senators have agreed to wear robes like the flowing, black gowns worn by court magistrates on the first day of the Gutierrez trial.

A senator said it was Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago who suggested that the senators wear robes to make them “look more dignified,” and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile wholeheartedly agreed with the idea.

With open arms

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada on Friday said that his colleagues welcomed the prospect of wearing robes “with open arms” because it would show the public that they were serious in their job as independent judges in the impeachment case.

Sen. Francis Escudero said that wearing robes would give “solemnity” to the proceedings. He recalled that then Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. wore his robe throughout the impeachment trial of President Joseph from December 2000 to January 2001.

Escudero said the senators would only wear their robes at the opening session of the Gutierrez trial.

From show biz to politics

A fellow senator, who requested anonymity because he said he did not want to offend fellow members of the chamber, joked that one of his colleagues who didn’t go to college would get to know how it would feel to wear a robe.

“At least, Lapid would know how it feels to wear a toga because he did not graduate,” the senator, speaking in Filipino, told the Inquirer.

Lapid later parlayed his show-biz career into a successful career as a politician. In 1996, he received an honorary BS degree in agriculture from the Pampanga Agricultural College.

Another former movie star, Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., also did not obtain a college degree but finished a training course on Local Government Administration in the Development Academy of the Philippines in 1998. He also took up a certificate course on Philippine Legislative Institutions and Political System in the same institution in 2003.

Not the prosecutors

Sen. Gringo Honasan said that some senators already had their fittings on Friday, while the rest were scheduled to have their sizes measured on Monday.

Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, a member of the House of Representatives prosecution team, said that the prosecutors would not be wearing gowns and would stick to their customary tailor-fitted suits or barong tagalog.

Gil Cabacungan, Jr., Phil. Daily Inquirer