Engineer Benjamin S. Luna, one of the very few remaining alumni of the first batch that graduated in UP Diliman when it moved from Padre Faura, peacefully passed away last October 18, 2020 at the age of 95.
He entered Diliman after getting his diploma as Valedictorian from a private school in Lipa despite not completing the year when the school closed at the onset of World War 2 in December 1942. He spent the wartime years in Padre Faura, transferring to Diliman towards the end of his college life and was one of the first to graduate from Diliman in 1949.
Engineer Luna taught mathematics at private schools in his hometowns of Lipa City and San Jose. He started a well drilling business at a young age and was a founding Chair of the Lipa City Water District, now the Metro Lipa Water District, which garnered multiple awards for good coverage and fiscal management from its inception.
He also founded several companies that went on to provide the most basic of needs – water. Semana-Luna Drilling and Construction Company served the needs of Southern Tagalog for decades. He was founding Chair and President of General Trias Water Corporation at the time of his death.
Several other companies engaged in financing and agribusiness benefitted from his entrepreneurial skills and savvy and continued to provide Southern Tagalog with primary needs.
Engineer Luna was well known for his sunny disposition, modesty, humor and sharp intellect and problem-solving abilities as well as a devotion to his family that extended to the larger clan.
He is survived by his wife Violeta Garcia, six children including UP alumni Maria Paz Luna (AB Psych 1986 and Law 1990) and Dr. Benjamin G. Luna Jr (BS Biology 1977), grandchildren and great-granchildren.
Written and photo by: Atty. Ipat Luna