2. LUNA AFTER 68 YEARS

LUNA AFTER 68 YEARS

Dr. Troy Alexander Gozum Miano

14 November 2016

As I descended from my service vehicle after a tough day deliberating on Isabela’s 2017 budget, I noticed the moon shining brighter than normal; its size was larger as if trying to get closer to me by the second. News on TV revealed that tonight at half way past seven, the country and the rest of the world will be witnessing the most spectacular supermoon or a “perigree full moon” in 68 years. According to PAGASA, the moon will pass by the earth at a distance of 356,621.611 kilometers, the closest it has passed since 1948 and it won’t happen again until November 26, 2034. The word “perigree” came from the Greek words peri, which means “near” and gee, which means “earth”. The perigree full moon appeared 14 percent larger in the sky and 30 percent brighter to the people’s eye than at minimum size and brightness.

Two topics hovered around my pate on the word “moon” or “luna” in Spanish: the adjacent town of Luna here in Isabela where I pass through almost everyday on my way to the Capitol and “Heneral Luna, the Movie” which was released by Artikulo Uno Productions and produced by Fernando Ortigas in 2015, which I got the chance to watch only this year.

I was researching on the historical development of the Municipality of Luna in Central Isabela in early 2011 when I stumbled on 3^rd District Sangguniang Panlalawigan Member Jaime Atayde in his abode and asked him if his ancestors particularly Don Arturo Nieto had stories on how the town got its name and what made the founders choose the name Luna. Records in the LGU of Luna revealed that the town’s name was derived from the surname of Antonio Luna y Novicio (October 29, 1866 - June 5, 1899), dubbed as the greatest Filipino general of the Philippine-American War (1899-1902) and was assassinated in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija by Filipino soldiers he disciplined a few weeks back. However, I cannot make a connection or no historical relevance can be made linking the general with the locality of Antatet, now known as the Municipality of Luna. SP Member Atayde, now serving his second term as the town’s municipal mayor, narrated that it was his grandfather, Arturo Nieto y Mallillin, who suggested the Spanish term “Luna” because at the time the founders were finalizing the conversion of Antatet from a municipal district of Cauayan (since 1928) to a regular municipality, the moon was shining brightly, hence the name “Luna”. It was during this period when the supermoon phenomenon first appeared 68 years ago. Succeeding leaders, however, connected the name to the Filipino hero probably to give national significance to the name and to immortalize the great Ilocano whose roots were from Badoc, Ilocos Norte and Luna, La Union.

Luna, the municipality, was created by virtue of Executive Order No. 267 signed by His Excellency President Elpidio Quirino and will be celebrating its 68^th founding anniversary on September 28, 2017. After 68 years, luna the supermoon, which humanity first witnessed on January 26, 1948 ­transpired again tonight.

To further immortalize the revolutionist, a monument honoring General Antonio Luna was erected at the junction of Barangay Cabaruan in Cauayan City. In 2015, coinciding with the year the “Heneral Luna” film was released, the City Government of Cauayan headed by Mayor Bernard Faustino M. Dy donated by virtue of City Resolution No. 2015-008 dated February 6, 2015, the aforementioned statue to the Municipal Government of Luna represented by Mayor Jaime Nieto Atayde and was permanently stationed at the junction of Luna town facing the poblasyon and I got the chance to have a souvenir photo with the edifice on its new pedestal.