paoay20160802As a child of the 1970s, I grew up reading comics. Carlo Caparas’ “Ang Panday,” as serialized in Filipino Komiks, made Flavio the hero whose adventure that most kids like me as would follow week after week.

When it was finally made into a movie in the 1980s by Fernando Poe Jr. or FPJ, we trooped to the movie-houses to see how Flavio’s story would unfold on the big screen. We were not disappointed. FPJ was a perfect Flavio. The last scene played in the desert was already worth the ticket. It was the final battle between good and evil. The evil Lizardo (masterfully played by Max Alvarado) and his supernatural minions made all the people of the village their prisoners and threatened to kill them all. And Flavio had to rescue them all by himself. Flavio was outnumbered, but he has the magic sword. When he pulled it off from the sand, it was brimming with superpowers. I can never forget the fight scene between Flavio and Lizardo. It was played on the sand dunes, with the blue sea on the background and against the sunset. It was a beautifully shot scene. Flavio finally won. But the curious boy in me wanted to see where the sand dunes scene was shot.

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