PATAYNG Yuta was a small village located at the northern edge of the Buhisan forest reserve, called “linsa” by local folks. It is nestled on one of the low hills of Barangay Sapangdaku. A road going farther uphill to Barangay Pamutan and connected downhill to the main road that led to Barangay Guadalupe traversed the village.

I used to frequent the place in the `80s, especially the two-story wooden house near the village’s public faucet. That house was owned by a family that we categorized as upper middle peasant, which meant they were better off economically compared to the others in the village. I got close to the family and we shared many fond memories.

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The main entrance to the house was at the upper floor where the sala, bedroom and kitchen were located. I remember seeing on one of the wooden walls a poster of Bruce Lee in classic pose, taken I think, from his hit film “Fist of Fury”: naked from the waist up, body ripped with muscles, eyes fierce and a nunchaku in the hand.

I could not forget that because I was a fan of Bruce Lee growing up, and it turned out that the family’s eldest son was a fan, too. In Sitio Kawayan in Barangay Sambag 2 where we lived, we kids would talk endlessly about his movies and his exceptional martial arts skills. Bruce Lee, became mythical with every story told---until we grew up.

Bruce Lee was among Time’s most important people of the century under the category “Heroes and Icons,” they “who articulate the longings of the last 100 years, exemplifying courage…superhuman ability and amazing grace.” On Bruce Lee: “With nothing but his hands, feet and a lot of attitude, he turned the little guy into a tough guy.”

Interestingly, as the hype builds for the fight between Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto for the welterweight crown in Las Vegas this Sunday, the name Bruce Lee surfaced. Pacquiao is called Pac Man, and often compared to Muhammad Ali. But to his promoter Bob Arum, he is the “Bruce Lee of boxing.”

Being likened to “the most influential martial artist of the 20th century and a cultural icon” should be flattering enough to Pacquiao and to us Filipinos. Indeed, for many of us Bruce Lee fans, there’s a similarity in the “freakishness” with which they strove to master their crafts. Even Arum was dumbfounded by the way Pacquiao trained.

Bruce Lee died on July 20, 1973 at the young age of 32 while his worldwide popularity was still at its peak. Pacquiao, on the other hand, is still completing his legacy in boxing and may soar to even greater heights with a win over Cotto. In a way, his fame has not attained the mythical proportion that of Bruce Lee did. But he’s on his way.

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After his wife, former city accountant Edna Jaca, died of cancer several months ago, former Inayawan barangay captain Tarciano Jaca also succumbed to the Big C. Tarciano was a political ally of former mayor Alvin Garcia and his Kugi Uswag Sugbo in Inayawan. He is also a relative of my wife Edizza, who is a Jaca.

At the wake Saturday night, I chanced upon Danny Bacalso, who talked about the unresolved controversy surrounding the chapel in Inayawan. His group is in the process of acquiring a lot where they hope to build a structure that could become a church once Ricardo Cardinal Vidal’s promise to make Inayawan a separate parish is realized.

(khanwens@yahoo.com/ my blog: cebuano.wordpress.com)