MANILA, Philippines—The original plan was for a requiem mass to be celebrated for Olympian Narciso Bernardo at the San Felipe Neri parish church in Mandaluyong City on Saturday afternoon.

Bernardo, 71, who passed away on Tuesday, will be interred at the nearby Mandaluyong Catholic Cemetery after the Mass.

However, Councilor Noel Bernardo, lone son of the great Olympian, said the farewell rites for his father will instead be held at the new chapel in Barangay Namayan, Bernardo’s birthplace.

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Councilor Bernardo said they had to move the Mass from the original venue because there were at least six other dead persons scheduled to be blessed after the scheduled 2 p.m. requiem Mass Saturday.

Knowing Ciso Bernardo, known for his meekness and humility, he would not mind being caught in the altar traffic.

But it was perfectly providential that they bid a final farewell to Bernardo, hands down Namayan’s finest and most famous son, at his birthplace.

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For one, the trek to the tomb is bound to set a record in attendance for the three-time Olympian, who later served as Mandaluyong councilor and was definitely one of the city’s most beloved sons.

Bernardo’s rise to stardom from the sandlot court at the back of the old chapel in Namayan, where he took time out from vending poor man’s popsicle—ice drop as the melting lollipop was popularly called—to play barefoot ball, was both incredible and dramatic.

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He was lean and dusky, visibly undernourished, but his inborn gifts, basically his sharpness from the perimeter, did not escape his elders, mainly Dikong Esto Castañeda, his first coach.

Before others knew it, Bernardo was already a member of the Namayan squad, a feared and respected outfit in the Mandaluyong inter-barrio league played at the San Felipe Neri churchyard court in the late 1950s.

OK, Bernardo did get his playing uniform, colored yellow and maroon.

He was also made to tag along in regular tournaments.

But, unlike other team regulars, Bernardo could not buy his own playing shoes.

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Anyway, as some old people in riverside Namayan fondly recalled, Bernardo had to be lent a pair of sweaty rubber shoes by a disqualified teammate in one big game in Makati after the

Namayan team got decimated by fouls to the limit.

It’s now part of basketball lore in Namayan how the thin, dusky last-minute substitute went on a near-magical display of point-making to save Namayan from impending defeat.

No, it was not to be the turning point in his career, because Bernardo later broke his back proving his worth in obscure commercial leagues for the Jackbuilt Blocks team.

He was indeed no overnight star.

But Bernardo’s rise to ultimate stardom—from an ice-drop vendor into Asia’s finest shotmaker in 1960s—was clearly phenomenal.

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There’s one thing Bernardo would be taking to his grave.

He loved to say that he developed his ability to play sound two-footed—taking off and operating evenly on either left or right foot—by carrying the big ice-drop box, maybe as heavy as a small refrigerator, for endless hungry days under the sun.

Bernardo had said he wished younger Filipino basketball stars would also develop into great “two-footed operators who could score on the wrong foot.”

Bernardo confided that, just like with the legendary Shin Dong-pa, his ability to pull up a jumper with his left foot was one of his big secrets.

Unfortunately, this rare ability continued to be brushed off as a big nonsense by majority of coaches in the national basketball hierarchy.

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(LEGACY: Bernardo has two daughters, Narida and Narissa (whose name was misspelled in a previous article on the Olympian. Also this afternoon in Barangay Pangao in Lipa City, a group of concerned citizens will help in the annual giving of gifts to farm children in the community.

Bernardo initiated this annual treat for poor kids nearly eight years ago. Among those who help continue the tradition are civic leader Nandy Charvet of Mandaluyong, Bambi Rivilla, Bart Mayo, trader Lucio Yan, Dr. Ruel Reyes of San Pablo, Mar Maralit and Gerry Mayor of Lipa City, Nando Balahan, Ramon Rivero, Rene del Monte and sportsman Rudy Salud.)