Captain Valeriano J. Segura, the Cebuano patriot at the Battle of Bataan
The Battle of Bataan was the last stand of the Filipino-American forces consolidated upon orders of General Douglas MacArthur to defend against the invading Japanese Imperial Army. It was from January 7 to April 9, 1942 that blood of patriots was shed in the name of God, country, and family. One of the patriots who gave his life was Captain Valeriano “Valin” Jamala Segura.
Segura, a Civil Engineering graduate of the Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, was also in the Reserve Officers Training Course where he was a company commander. Segura, who graduated valedictorian from the Iloilo High School, took and topped the West Point entrance examination. Since he was an inch short of the height requirement he was instead sent to the Purdue University to become a civil engineer.
His son, Colonel Manuel Segura, the Cebuano WWII hero last saw his father in Tubigon, the latter was called to active duty as a captain the Corps of Engineers and assigned to the staff of General MacArthur. Captain Segura who was born on December 11, 1888, died in the Battle of Bataan on February 20, 1942.
Captain Segura was not just a patriot, he served the country in many other ways. As a young engineer he constructed the Dayhagan Canal Bridge (106 kilometers of the Cebu North Road), a swing bridge composed of two 50-foot steel swing panels. It was completed on October 29, 1917. He also conceptualized the construction of vicinal or inter-municipal roads as he worked for the Bureau of Public Works District in Visayas and Mindanao. On October 2, 1939, Segura was appointed by President Quezon as Member of the Board of Tax Appeals of Cebu City. Segura was a charter member of the Cebu Rotary Club in 1932 by Stanton Turner.
Captain Segura married Encarnacion Rodis, his children continued his legacy of excellence in public service: architect Gregorio, Colonel Manuel, Ascencion (who married Atty. Jesus Avila who became a lawyer on January 21, 1955, he was the son of Don Jose Avila and named a son after him, Valeriano “Bobit” Avila, columnist of The Philippine STAR and The FREEMAN), Fe (who married a de Jesus), Salvador (who became an Engineer from the Purdue University, during the war he was tasked by Colonel James Cushing to return the personal belongings of Fr. Patrick Drumm, the chaplain of the Cebuano guerillas to the Redemptorist community in Cebu City), Eduardo, Dr. Alfredo, and Dr. Oliverio. Captain Segura is honored by a school named after him in a lot donated by his family, the Valeriano Segura Elementary School in Candumayao, Catigbian, Bohol. It is also where the Segura farm is located.
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