MANILA, Philippines?Olympian Narciso Bernardo, whose legendary brilliance has never been equaled by succeeding generations of millionaire Filipino basketball superstars, passed away quietly on Tuesday. He was 71.

Bernardo, a member of four Philippine Olympic teams starting in 1960 in Rome, bowed out of the international arena in the 1972 Munich Olympics, where he teamed up with the likes of Danilo Florencio, Jimmy Mariano, Freddie Webb and the late Adriano Papa Jr. and Rogelio Melencio.

He suffered a stroke while doing light jogs around the ULTRA tracks in Pasig City in January 2002, and never recovered full consciousness until his demise.

His body lies in state at the Bernardo residence on San Rafael Street, Plainview Subdivision, Mandaluyong City.

He will be interred on Saturday, Dec. 27, at the Mandaluyong Catholic Cemetery, after an afternoon Mass at the nearby San Felipe Neri Church.

Bernardo, a favorite son of Mandaluyong and easily its brightest contribution to world sports, went on to serve as city councilor, and has been succeeded by his son Noel in the post.

He zoomed to national prominence as the premier shotmaker of the fabled Ysmael Steel Admirals, during the team?s bitter rivalry with the Yco Painters, when Bernardo?s fierce duels with star guard Ed Ocampo became the top attraction in the country?s national commercial leagues, mainly the MICAA.

While it was the mighty Carlos Loyzaga, the Great Difference, who lorded it over in the RP basketball hierarchy, the explosive Bernardo-Ocampo rivalry was main hardcourt fare that earned hysterical raves and drew the best from great chroniclers like the late Antonio Siddayao and Willie Hernandez, sportscaster non-pareil.

Thin and dusky, Bernardo was discovered in the sandlots of his birthplace Namayan in riverside Mandaluyong.

He started out with the Norton and Harrison Jackbuilt Blocks team, before joining the varsity squad of National University, where he finished an engineering course.

He first drew international notice in the inaugural staging of the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in 1960 where he was named Rookie of the Year.

In a brilliant career that regularly earned him labels like unstoppable and durable, Bernardo, deadly with his graceful fade-away jumpers and impeccable from the foul line, joined the Mariwasa Hondas after the surprise disbandment of the Ysmael Admirals in 1968.

He also starred for the well-loved Danny Floro in the Crispa Redmanizers team at a point when most of his contemporaries had already retired.

He visibly still had a few good years in his legs when he was invited and reluctantly agreed to coach John Gokongwei?s CFC team in the Philippine Basketball Association, where he also served once as deputy commissioner, acting mainly as goodwill ambassador among rival teams.

A successful sportsman who was also known for his philanthropic deeds, Bernardo is survived by wife Rosa, from Nueva Vizcaya, daughters Narissa and Ely, son Noel.