May Bukas Pa (2009 TV series)


May Bukas Pa is a Philippine drama television series produced by Dreamscape Entertainment and directed by Jerome Chavez Pobocan, Jojo A. Saguin, and Erick C. Salud. The series features an ensemble cast consisting of Zaijian Jaranilla, Albert Martinez, Dina Bonnevie, Tonton Gutierrez, Maja Salvador, Rayver Cruz, Dominic Ochoa, Desiree del Valle, Precious Lara Quigaman, Lito Pimentel, and Jaime Fabregas. The series aired on ABS-CBN's Primetime Bida block from February 2, 2009 to February 5, 2010, with a total of 263 episodes.
The series was the highest rated program on Philippine television for both 2009 and 2010 according to Kantar Media Philippines.
The entire series is streaming online on YouTube.
On March 16, 2020, the series returned to air, temporarily replacing FPJ's Ang Probinsyano until the shutdown of ABS-CBN due to the quarantine caused by the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic.

Series overview

Reruns

Plot

Santino, an orphan adopted by Franciscans, meets with Jesus in the flesh and gives Santino the power to heal, and the boy has a series of adventures in the fictional town of Bagong Pag-asa, helping others with their problems.

Cast and characters

Main cast

;Supporting cast

Chapter One: Mystery

Found abandoned as an infant in a cemetery, Santino was adopted by a group of priests in a small town, who all pitch in to raise him as their own.
Santino was kidnapped by an unknown man in the middle of the night. It was revealed that the man is Olegario Pineda, a criminal who Mario have imprisoned years ago. Mario suspects that Olegario kidnapped Santino to use and make money out of him using his healing powers, however, this is not the real reason. As the two journeys to an unknown location, Olegario tells Santino that he needs him to heal his son who has a brain tumor thus allowing his son to only have shorter life. Olegario and Santino successfully made it to town of Sta. Maria where Santino could finally heal his son. In these events, Olegario was surrounded by the police as they arrive, he was numerously shot by another policeman even though Santino begs that he is a good person. Later, Santino grants his promise to Olegario that he would heal his son.
Meanwhile, after being held in an orphanage, Santino runs away after learning that a couple would want to take him just to make money on his healing abilities. As Santino runs away, he meets Lolo Berting, a rice cake vendor who helped him find his way home. As Santino lives with the old man, Santino slowly learns that Berting has mysteries of his own. His son, Jojo, has despised him for leaving him and his mother alone til his mother died. Santino then makes Berting's son realize that he has to forgive his father because everyone also needs to be forgiven.
Her mom's recent memory loss causes Julia's entire career, life and love life to be ruined. She feels depressed and tired about problems coming her way. Her life then changes after meeting Santino.
Mayor spills all the malodorous secrets of the priest in the monastery revealing that Father Ringo was an ex-convict and Father Jose's family are all dead.
Alfred, one of the students in the Bagong Pag-Asa school, has a family problem because his parents are about to separate. So Alfred moves to the monastery, causing his parents having a hard time looking for him. Thus, Santino helped the couple overcome their problem.
Santino visits the circus and meets a magician named Ricardo. Ricardo and Santino later became friends revealing that Ricardo has a broken family he longs to see but due to some issues, meeting them is not easy.
Santino and the priests visits Father John's hacienda, where they meet the latter's father, Don Miguel. Don Miguel doesn't welcome his son's priesthood and thinks that John's plans is just silly. He believes that his son becoming a priest is not the way to happiness. He only believes that the only thing that will make his son gain happiness in life is money.
Santino meets a runaway woman named Cheska. She later reveals to Santino that she was searching for her biological mother who from what she knows still lives in Bagong Pag-asa. Her mother was later revealed to be the owner of the strip club of the town, "Heaven's Gate", but unluckily isn't excited to meet her daughter.
A lone teacher suffers through pain after discovering that her whole life of teaching children will later end due to her age. She's alone and sad as she remembers all of her students, sacrificing her entire life for them and eventually becoming their "second mother", yet, none of them seemed to remember her works for them.
Adela, a former porn star and G.R.O is abusing her son because of her hate and anger towards him. Adela was lucky to be given a starring role in a movie which ended due to her getting pregnant to Boy George her son who suffers from child abuse his mother gives because of his below average IQ, which isn't enough to go into a good college.
Carla, the daughter of the school principal at Bagong Pag-Asa, is born into a rich and well-educated family. She is the "good and obedient" daughter. She does well in school receiving high grades and is on her way to a good career path or so it seems. Her sister, Judith, is the complete opposite. She is the rebellious daughter. However, Carla gets pregnant causing her dad to turn the wheel and treat her as a disgrace to the family.
Returning Characters
A woman and a man mysteriously appear in Bagong Pag-Asa and starts to search for their son, Ogie. Santino knows that his real mother is probably alive and is mistaken as the son of Miriam.
As Santino searches for his real mother, through the way of "lukso ng dugo", he meets a young woman named Abby, who helped him when he was lost. Santino thought that Abby is his mother as he felt a great connection between them, however Abby is too young to be his mother in which she implies. Abby is the granddaughter of the owner "Tocino King". Her grandfather wants her to inherit the business; however, Abby doesn't feel a great perseverance to accept the offer.
Returning characters:
As Miriam and Gary leaves Bagong Pag-asa, they meet Janet while having problems with their car. Miriam and Janet share their stories about the people they have been looking for. Miriam instantly realizes that Janet's story fits with Santino's life story. Meanwhile, Malena and Selda's mother Doña Anita returns to Bagong Pag-asa. She recollects the conflict about Selda marrying a policeman, Anita meeting her granddaughter and the never-ending punishment of harsh words to Malena's husband, Enrique.
Returning characters:
Santino and Paco are kidnapped by a gang who make little children beg in the streets. They also sell children to couples who are unable to get pregnant. During Santino's stay in the gang, he meets their leader, Tatay Ben, a lonely old man. Meanwhile, Father Paul was shot by one of Tatay Ben's allies and was taken to the hospital, where his family comes to visit him. Santino finally returns home at the right time to heal Father Paul.
Pedro and Juan helps the kids escape from Tatay Ben's household. Tatay Ben then gets arrested and Santino told Angelie that he will return to Bagong Pag-asa when the former healed the latter's mother. Santino and Paco return to Bagong Pag-Asa as classes were to resume and they have a Father's Day program. Meanwhile, Mario is fired from the police force due to alleged insubordination and AWOL. Mario later chokes the police chief for insulting the former's dead father, also a former policeman. This results in a huge blow to Mario, whose daughter would have praised him in their Father's Day program. Santino will then urge Enrique to do something for Mario. People held a rally for Mario, whom they regard as a hero. Don Miguel dies despite Fr. John's bringing of Santino to heal him, and as Doña Anita prepares to reconcile with Selda, Stella's parentage is revealed.
Returning characters:
Mario is forced to leave his family due to the gossip and shame revealed that Stella is his daughter. Malena's entire family including her mother and husband has persecuted her. Selda's also suffering as she seeks for a sign from God, if she would ever need to forgive Mario for what he has done. Meanwhile, at the middle of the night a big surprise has startled the monastery as Brother Chi's sister seeks for help after being forced to marry a man she doesn't love. Selda forgives Mario and reconciles with her mom, while Alex' father tries to relocate his daughter's wedding in Bagong Pag-asa, despite opposition from the priests.
Meanwhile, Santino meets a street vagrant who was being bullied by children. Santino, along with his friends, helped the poor woman and took her to Selda's house, where Selda has cleaned her up. However, the vagrant is unable to speak due to a past trauma. Santino takes the vagrant for a stroll in the cemetery where he introduced her to the priests and to "Bro". Santino healed the woman and finally remembers her name as Ina. She dreams about a guy named Andrew, whom she believes is her best friend.
Doña Anita is having difficulties about the case she's involved in. Because of the matter becoming serious, she swallows her pride and asked Enrique for help. Meanwhile, Doña Anita is accused and imprisoned for murders that happened when her men were evicting people from her land; however, Enrique refuses to help her but instead seeks revenge for the past sins his mother-in-law did to him. Anita suffers a heart attack and is hospitalized. It was later revealed that the couple that was murdered in Sitio Hulo were the parents of Enrique. It's also revealed that Enrique is the one behind the recent accusations to Doña Anita because he wants revenge.
Father Patrick receives a letter regarding his younger brother Jepoy. He finds out that Jepoy have given up his studies to work as a fisherman to earn money for the family. Hence, Father Patrick quickly asking Father Anthony's permission to leave and go back home. Santino with Father Jose and Father Paul joined Father Patrick on his way back to their province which turned out to be a seaside. As they arrive they saw Jepoy about to leave with one of the fishermen in the middle of the night. After learning that the person Jepoy is working with uses dynamite for fishing, Father Patrick stops him as he thinks this too dangerous for a child to handle. Jepoy gets mad at Father Patrick and later starts to explain to him why he needs to earn money.
A surprise visit shocks Baby after her sister, Delilah, drops by for a visit. Apparently, she didn't just come by to visit, she is in need of help with her problem, money-wise. Delilah has lost most of her money, and went for Baby for assistance. It turns out that Baby hates her so much, because their father had always liked Delilah over her. As she stays in Baby's place, she's not welcomed by her sister. She's very nice and joyful when meeting people including Santino. Baby got jealous and starts a rumor that she is a witch, where the public easily believed after an unknown illness has struck the townspeople. When they banished her from the area where she was forced to run to the monastery to for help.
Since the hospital is starting to overflow with patients infected with the West Nile virus, the doctor facilitating the health center decides to close their doors to other incoming patients. The event further enrages everybody in town, thus causing Mayor Enrique to take immediate action. In order to cure everybody in town, Enrique finally seeks the help of a doctor with expertise on infectious diseases, Dr. Marcelito Azarcon. It turns out that Dr. Azarcon is a previous resident of Bagong Pag-Asa where he met his first love Patricia, however, chose his career over her. As he returns to Bagong Pag-Asa, he met Santino at the church where they had a little chat. Lito told Santino that he doesn't believe in God, he thinks that its only a way to let other people feel calm during problems and science is the way to find that solution. As he help stop the disease, he discovered that Patricia has leukemia after being badly infected by the West Nile virus. Lito ask Santino for help to heal Patricia, which he granted.
After surpassing the town epidemic, it seems that Bagong Pag-asa is about to face another dilemma. To everybody's surprise, a threatening swarm of locusts suddenly attacks the whole town giving problems to the farmers, an alarming number of cockroaches destroying the town's livestock and a group of wild animals such as rats and snakes scaring the townspeople. It was discovered that an active volcano nearby caused the animals to move and wonder about, which apparently has disturbed them. However, the townspeople doesn't seem to believe this and through Malena's plans, they rather believe that Mayor Enrique is a pest in town spreading bad luck for the people.
Meanwhile, Santino is helped by a taho vendor named Moy. He learns more about his new friend Moy through the latter's daughter Grace. The little girl reveals that her father currently has 4 jobs in order to get them through each and everyday. Aside from that, she also shares that her mother had left them before due to her father's lack of wealth. To Grace's surprise, her mother unexpectedly returns. Upon his wife's sudden comeback, Moy is in fact glad; but he just couldn’t help but fear the thought that she might take their child away from him soon.
Moy is disappointed upon granting the 5 wishes of his daughter Grace. Specially the first one in which she wishes that both of them will always be together for Moy has finally decided to give Grace to Jackie; thinking that the latter could take better care of their child. Another one of Grace's wishes is to be with her grandfather, Pilo, who is in the home for the aged. Pilo was left by his son in the center due to lack of money. After being given to Jackie, Grace thought that she was just kidnapped by her mother without her father knowing, so she ran back to the monastery to go back for Moy. Moy then later explained to Grace everything which she really did not understand. After being returned to Jackie again, Grace runs away for the second time, but this time she went to her grandfather in Manila. Riding on a banana delivery truck, Grace invites Santino to join her. Santino, in worries for Grace came along. The whole monastery and Grace's parents panicked due to the children's disappearance. After looking for them, they figured out that the two maybe in Manila with Pilo. They went to the home for the aged and asked Pilo, but he denied that Grace and Santino were there. The two children are there and Pilo hid them in his room. Pilo worries about Grace being taken away, so he ran away from the facility and took the kids to an old house to hide. However, a tricycle driver mistook Pilo as a pedophile and reported him to the police, where Jackie figured out that the girl being reported is Grace. In the middle of the night, the three were surrounded by the police. Although being surrounded, no one knew that the guy being mistaken as a criminal was Pilo. It was later revealed that it was actually Pilo when Moy and the others arrive at the old house. Pilo refuses to give Grace up to the police even though three snipers have been targeted on him. Jackie decided that she wouldn't take Grace anymore, as long as Pilo would give her up. Pilo gave up the children and although Jackie promised, she still tried to take Grace away, but after a talk with Santino, she decided to leave Grace with Moy, however, to give her a better life, she would help pay for Grace's needs. The family then rejoices as they're finally back together again.
Santino and the priests in the monastery meet a girl named Sara, who is then accompanying a special child named Val. The young lady introduces the child as her very own son. According to her, she and the boy escaped from her spiteful husband with completely nothing in hand. The very next day, Santino and his friends drop by their household in order to befriend them. To Sara's surprise, Val seems to be completely receptive of Santino's intention to extend a friendly hand. Meanwhile, the town is planning to have a celebration from all the pestilence that happened. A surprising event happened on a rehearsal, where Val shows a talent of playing the piano. Upon seeing the child's skills, he was considered as a gifted child by the townspeople where everybody was talking about him. As Val's fame rises, his father discovered where Sara and the child are hiding. Val's father surprises everyone on one of the practice sessions of the celebration where he revealed that Sara isn't the child's real mother. She was only a caregiver who took the kid and tells everyone that he's her own son. On Sara's side, she explained that the kid in not being given good care by his father, he was always being scolded for and sometimes being hid from the public by imprisoning him in a room. The father, Carlo, explains that he hates Val because when his wife was giving birth to him, an unexpected problem happened which caused her to die. Carlo later slowly realizes that it is his own fault why the child was driven away from him. As he hears his son play, he remembers his wife who is also a pianist, and through his son's music, he realizes that Val is a remembrance from his wife. After the celebration he promised that he will never be ashamed of his son again and will be proud of him no matter what. He also dropped the charges against Sara.
Malena identifies Tilde to be Enrique's secret girlfriend. Upon realizing this, Malena relentlessly drags the young lady out of the monastery to confront her regarding the matter. Tilde fails to deny the allegation, thus causing Malena to make a big scene in front of everybody. The said revelation further heightens up her hatred towards her husband; and on her personal enumeration of all the troubles Enrique caused her, truth has been told that Enrique is in fact Santino's real father. Meanwhile, fed up with his parents’ constant warring, Rico suddenly decides to run away. Upon learning this, Santino together with three of his other friends decide to chase him and convince him to go back home. Enrique, the priests and the children's families mistakenly believe the kids were kidnapped. The children then succeed on convincing the boy but they faced trouble on their way back to town. Aside from being lost in the middle of nowhere without food and water, Rico ends up being caught in quicksand. On Santino's way to help the poor boy out, he too falls in the trap. Their other friends rescued them, but they haven't returned yet to Bagong Pag-asa. It is also revealed that the place they are in is the hideout of insurgents and criminals. The kids then seek help from someone living in the forests, but it turns out that he is a member of the gang, "Batang Iwahid". Batang Iwahid is a group of young teenage boys based in the town of San Isidro who rob people and/or kidnap them for ransom. However, they never kill citizens, they are only getting blamed for what the other gangs do. They shoot Enrique while he and the policemen were finding Santino and the other kids; Enrique survives as Santino prays over him while he was with the kidnappers, and the search for the children goes on. Some of the other children were able to be rescued, but Santino was still being held captive. It seems that the rebel group's leader, Froilan, has a special income generating plan for the child. Upon learning this, Enrique hassles the authorities’ search and rescue operation, in order to save their town's hailed child, and promote his political agenda as well. On the other hand, Malena runs out of town with her son Rico to get Enrique, and her growing love for him, out of her mind once and for all, which immediately infuriates the latter. Santino, however, was then rescued by the police, with Froilan and his men going to jail.
Returning characters:
After saving Rico, Malena runs away with the kid after knowing that she still loves Enrique. In Malena's disappearance, Enrique launched his secret plan to build a town casino. The town was divided by the choices of Yes or No on the plan. A kidnapper then called Enrique if he wants his son back. Enrique gave a 1 million ransom money in exchange for his son. Havoc is in the midst, when the farmers refuse to leave their land because of casino being planned to be made. Stampede accidentally happened after one of the farmers was shot. Santino was the most affected by the stampede, where he had a near death experience in the hospital and where he met his mother in Heaven telling him that it is not his time yet because he still needs to find his father. After surviving the stampede. The social workers showed up saying that they need to take Santino away due to the accident. Upon this, Enrique planned to take temporary custody of Santino so that he wouldn't need to leave town. Surprisingly, Malena finds her way back home after she accidentally fell asleep in a delivery truck bound for Atong and Baby's store; she is very weak so she has to be taken immediately to the hospital. During Enrique's visit with Rico and Santino, Malena grows inevitably furious. Enraged in anger, she persistently exclaims that Enrique is the one responsible for all her mishaps. Malena sneaks out of the hospital to purposely barge in Enrique's house; and there she shamelessly blames her husband and his newly adopted son, Santino, for all her mishaps. The next day, Malena unexpectedly bumps into Santino and Rico in the monastery. Immediately, she excitedly approaches her son, but refuses to even come near her; and after she accidentally hurts Santino on the incident, she finally realizes how attached his son has grown towards his undisclosed half-brother. Malena then pays Arturo to kidnap Santino; the latter agrees to do so in order to prevent he and his wife to have their child adopted. However, the wife of Arturo confessed to Father Jose about the situation. Whilst Father Jose told Mario about what could happen, Father Jose broke the seal of confession in exchange for Santino's safety.
Returning characters:
Malena and Enrique started to reconcile. Rico and his family went back together again. Santino also started to reunite with the priests again. Meanwhile, the DSWD came to the monastery and needed to take Santino away from the priests because another couple saw the records of all the kids in the DSWD. They also saw the records of Santino so they planned to take Santino. The couple adopted Santino, but the wife tried to "re-live" her dead son in the person of Santino. This caused the couple problems, and it was decided that he be returned to the DSWD. Meanwhile, Rico's accident finally makes Malena a changed woman. Aside from paying Santino the proper apologies for all her misdeeds, Malena also drops by Baby and Ato's store to say sorry for all her shortcomings. Later, after having a fight with Tilde, Malena's fall off a cliff put her in a rather critical condition, which eventually led to her untimely death. Santino tries reviving her, just as Rico requested, but even his miraculous hands couldn’t change Malena's fate. On the other hand, Tilde's previous threats to Malena instantly backfire. Incidentally, someone witnessed what she had done to Malena. Father Jose applies for a job in a nearby resort, but it was discovered that his workplace is actually a casino. Santino sees Enrique in the place; the latter asked him to remain silent about that, but the former refused. Jueteng is prevalent in Bagong Pag-Asa, and Mario and the other policemen begin to hunt down the perpetrators. It is revealed that Enrique himself is involved in jueteng.
Santino meets Aling Soledad, a grumpy elderly woman who happens to be everyone's enemy due to her remorseless greed. Pretty much aware of the scarcity of water in Bagong Pag-asa, she ends up selling her remaining supply for a pretty unreasonable price. Despite the old lady's bad reputation, Santino and his friends end up defending her from enraged neighbors; but instead of showing gratitude to the said kids, she ends up driving them away. On the other hand, the heat wave phenomenon in Bagong Pag-asa finally takes its toll on its residents; but despite the said fact, Enrique remains unmoved regarding the matter. Enrique then verbally harasses Mario, whom he accused of being Bagong Pag-asa's jueteng lord. A fire in Bagong Pag-asa destroyed Atong and Baby's livelihood; a newly-wed Enrique helped them, but in return they would have to blame Cocoy for the fire, even if the fire was just an accident. This causes the disappearance of both Cocoy and Santino from Bagong Pag-asa.
Returning characters:
The authorities found a way to track down Cocoy; and in order to save Santino from the pursuit, Cocoy then decides to leave his little brother alone in a safe place as he tries misleading his hunters. After the incident, Cocoy discovers that Santino has actually gone astray. And given the said situation, he is left with no other choice but to remain at large up until he finds the missing miracle kid. Incidentally, after obliviously walking around the streets of Manila to look for his big brother Cocoy, Santino finds himself spending sometime with Santa Claus. Santa Claus pursues his calling of giving out gifts from one house to another, and surprisingly, he ends up finding himself in his very own house. Immediately, his son Ramon recognizes him; but instead of greeting him with a hearty welcome, the lad instantly shoves him away. Ramon tries warning his younger sister Lea. Surprisingly, in contrast to her brother's display of disgust, Lea is somehow looking forward to seeing her biological father; so she makes it a plan to look for him before her time finally runs out. In order to fulfill his promise to Totoy, Santino drops by the hospital to lay his miraculous hand on Lea; and after successfully doing so, they rush to the precinct in order to check on Totoy's condition. Incidentally, Totoy had decided to donate his own heart in order to save his daughter's life but Santino heals Lea. Lea & Ramon reunite with their estranged father Totoy.
In the midst of Santino and Jose's pursuit, Mia tries giving them a lift; and upon learning that they have no place to go, she gladly offers her house to be their temporary refuge. Incidentally, all these good deeds she has to offer have corresponding prices. Apparently, she is a self-professed material girl, and any thing that could bring her cash is basically worth her while. During one of their conversations, Santino tells Mia about the 1-million-peso reward Enrique is giving out in exchange for him and others are also in pursuit of the reward money; and upon learning about this, the young lady couldn’t help but feel the urge of getting her hand on the said bundle of cash. Upon getting her chance, Mia tricks Santino to go with her, alone. At the last minute, Mia changes her mind about bringing Santino back to Bagong Pag-asa. She surprisingly feels guilt-stricken upon realizing how the kid actually trusts her with his dear life. Mia gets mad at her family, saying she has worked hard for them and yet they do not appreciate her for what she's sacrificed for them; while she was driving a taxi, she was stabbed by robbers, and Santino healed her. Meanwhile, Gregor has been arrested and evidence soon implicates Robert in the illegal gambling in Bagong Pag-asa. Anita gets mad at Robert, whom she treated as her son.
Returning characters:
Father Jose finds a way to search for employment and instantly gets one during a job opening at Jeff's house after the said employer brusquely fires the newly hired for the particular position. Jeff is a crippled businessman who owns a popular toy store and is pretty notorious among his employees and customers, most especially in his toy store, as well as his clients and other people for being irate, cruel, and somehow greedy despite being a good man. One instance of his cruelty is blaming his employees for failures such as lack of sales. After Santino heals Jeff, the latter continues his cruelty. Despite being quite nice to Santino, during a conversation, Jeff grows irate and banishes Santino with a statement that he does not acknowledge God or Jesus Christ, calling them as false people who never exist. When thieves try to rob Jeff's toy store during the mall's closing hours, Mino is shot while Jeff is brutally beaten while trying to defend himself. At the hospital, while Santino heals Mino, a recuperating Jeff invites Santino for a conversation. It is here that he reveals that he was abused during his childhood wherein he lost his ability to walk and became wheelchair-bound for years and this caused his cruelty towards others. In the end, after he and Mino recover, he thanks Santino, acknowledges God, and reconciles with his workers.
Santino fortunately escapes his pursuers with the help of a happy-go-lucky traveling sales lady named Libay. Upon learning that the poor kid is actually lost, the young lady gladly offers to help him go back home. In order to return the said favor, Santino then volunteers to help Libay with her sales; and together they go from town to town asking around for directions towards the small town of Bagong Pag-asa. She was then discovered by her brother, and asked to come home so that she could be with their father. It was revealed that Libay left her family because she couldn't carry on seeing her father suffering from Stage 4 cancer. Santino healed Libay's father.
Returning characters:
A strange man named Franco de Jesus roams around Bagong Pag-asa to search for Teresa Malimban; but instead of finding his former girlfriend, he ends up finding her son Santino instead. Upon learning about this said information, Franco instantly claims custody of the said kid; and in order to successfully do so, he tries seeking Mayor Enrique's help. Without hesitation, Enrique gives his full support to Franco's case. He instantly suggests a DNA test; and once the DNA test results prove that Franco is in fact Santino's biological father, the DSWD will then be awarding Santino's custody to him. After Enrique finds out that Franco is not the real father, Enrique decided to have a DNA test. It is then proven that Enrique is Santino's real father, and the DNA sample Franco gave was actually Enrique's. Enrique then decided to back out of the mayoral race in order to spend more time with his children, and gets ready to face corruption charges that may be filed against him after leaving office. Meanwhile, a fugitive Robert greets Enrique during his birthday, with Rico and Santino abducted by Robert. Mario and Enrique then pursue a chase against Robert, which leads to the death of Enrique and injuries to Rico during the rescue process.
Returning characters:
After Enrique's death, Tilde was arrested for being involved in the death of Malena. However, she was able to escape under the pretense of labor; while being driven, she got the gun of Dante, the policeman driving the vehicle. Rico was resentful of Santino because of their father's death. Santino then felt sad as he believes he's bad luck due to the death of Enrique and the anger of Rico; Father Jose told him that he was not the Santino who was trying to be happy despite the hardships and trials. Meanwhile, Santino was being told by a voice that he should come to it and he was cursed by Bro. He ends up being helped by angels on his way and ends up at a home for the homeless, run by Lola Milgaros, a blind grandmother. Meanwhile, a Filipino-Chinese businessman named Mr. Chan is trying to put into action his plan to take the house and the land where it stands for his business expansion. He constantly tries to take the place but also fails. Santino meets Mr. Chan and discovers his ailing daughter whom he heals. Mr. Chan continues to do his pursuit despite his daughter's recovery and also still doesn't believe in God. On one night, Lola Milagros' home is set on fire by arsonists and miracles happen when rain falls and stops the fire. Learning of the incident, Mr. Chan has a change of heart and quits his pursuit by giving Milagros a check of a huge sum of money for repairs and necessities.
A Manila-based journalist named Paulo Peñaflor arrives at Bagong Pag-asa to search for news featuring the miracles in the small town. And to his delight, he alone gets his hands on the most sensational news there is, Rico's exclusive encounters with his so-called Bro '. Though a non-believer of such events, Paulo pursues this rather controversial issue for his show's sake. Santino has now returned to Bagong Pag-asa, but his former petty argument with Rico turns out to be a completely heated dispute. Apparently, Santino tries relaying Bro's real message to Rico, which instantly infuriates the latter. Given the rather controversial situation, Paulo then gets another angle for a truly sensational scoop. And to his surprise, the tension is further heightened up by Tilde's hired con-artist. This results in an accident which endangered Stella's life; but fortunately, Santino is around to save her. Meanwhile, detainees in Bagong Pag-asa's jail held the police chief hostage, and ordered all policemen to give them their arms. After the commotion in Bagong Pag-asa Jail ended in a miracle, a group of radicals led by Tilde's con-artist try to get Santino to perform more miracles so they may believe. Their actions however compromise Santino's safety and eventually puts his life in danger. Hearing of this, Paolo rescues Santino ' and makes him stay in a secluded countryside villa he rented for his tenure in Bagong Pag-asa. There he takes care of Santino until it is safe for him to return. In one interview session, Paolo reveals to Santino an event that triggered his loss of faith in Christ; during his tenure as a missionary, the bombing of a chapel built by his congregation resulted in the death of several people and his co-missionaries. In the remains of the chapel, he managed to save a baby which died when he thought Jesus would help it. He threw away his habit and abandoned his vocation in despair. At the monastery, the monks and Mario collaborate with each other to find Santino.
Paolo turns Santino over to Mario and the police chief before going on an errand. As Mario contacts the monks of Santino's safety while driving the latter back to Bagong Pag-asa, Tilde deviously abducts Mario's daughter Joy, and calls Mario to request that Santino be brought to her in exchange for Joy's release. Santino convinces Mario that he would respond to Tilde's request; Mario agreeing unconditionally out of his desperate situation. Although Mario would not be giving Santino to Tilde, the young boy was abducted by Tilde, who asked the former to cure her sickness. Tilde was enraged and locked up Santino in a closet when Santino refused to heal her since he has no more power to cure the sick. Tilde then insistently commands him to lay his miraculous hands on her, but she accidentally pushes Santino off a flight of stairs, causing Santino's head to hit very hard on the floor, thus, causing him to instantly lose his consciousness—just as Rico once predicted. Santino was then hospitalized, but when his chances of survival were declining, the priests then decided to bring his dying body to the monastery. Santino dies in the monastery, and his wish to reunite with his parents was finally granted, though it caused deep grief to everyone. People then flocked to Bagong Pag-asa in order to pay the necessary respects to his remains, while Tilde awaits sentencing for her crimes. During funeral preparations were underway, Santino wakes up alive after he was told by his parents in the afterlife that the time for him to be reunited with them has not yet come, and he still needs to continue his mission on Earth, and to be with and protect his half-brother Rico. This miracle was witnessed by Paolo, who saw the young boy sitting alongside Bro. People of Bagong Pag-asa rejoiced upon seeing Santino alive once more. This occurrence brought back Paolo's faith in God, and Santino lives a normal life thereafter. In the end of the series, Paolo gives a narration on what hope for him is and how Santino changed his life, and is now back on his vocation of priesthood after witnessing the miracle.
Returning characters:
The Funeral Choir:
Most of the scenes in May Bukas Pa are taped in San Guillermo Parish Church Barangay Cabambangan & Municipal Hall of Bacolor in Barangay Calibutbut of the 4th class municipality of Bacolor, Pampanga.
In 2009, Maja Salvador took a break from the show for three months in order to focus on Nagsimula sa Puso. At the same time, she and Precious Lara Quigaman had announced that they have joined their new show Precious Hearts Romances Presents: Impostor which came out In 2010.

Marketing

Theme song

The theme song of the religious drama with the same title was originally performed by Rico J. Puno. The first version is sung by Kyle Balili and the second version is sung by Erik Santos.

ABS-CBN Christmas ID

's Christmas 2009 campaign was inspired by the show's popularity. The song is entitled "Bro, Ikaw ang Star ng Pasko". Christmas lanterns were specially created by ABS-CBN that are sold to benefit ABS-CBN foundation's charity programs. ABS-CBN launched Parol ni Bro November 4, 2009, where an 18-foot Christmas lantern on the top of ABS-CBN building was lit up by the May Bukas Pa cast, ABS-CBN president Charo Santos-Concio, and ABS-CBN chairman and CEO Eugenio Lopez III.
It was later used for the network's 2010 and 2019 Christmas Station IDs "Ngayong Pasko Magniningning Ang Pilipino" and "Family is Forever". It also has musical similarities with the 2017 Christmas Station ID "Just Love Ngayong Christmas". GMA also had its 2019 Christmas Station ID "Love Shines" having scenes patterned after the 2009 ID.

Reception

Due to the show's ratings, ABS-CBN's management has decided to extend it for 20 weeks instead of the initial eight weeks. On June 23, 2009, ABS-CBN television head Cory Vidanes announced that the show would be extended until February 2010.
May Bukas Pa became the first primetime TV series in the Philippines to have lasted at least a full year and end in the 2010s decade, peaking during its finale with 47.3% nationwide rating according to Kantar Media/TNS. It currently stands as the country's highest-rated show of all time since Philippine television switched to nationwide TV ratings system in the opening day of 2009.

Critical reception

Entertainment columnist Nestor Torre of the Philippine Daily Inquirer said "It must have been a big decision for the new show’s producers to get away from that downbeat view of life and come up with this Marcelino Pan Y Vino-inspired tale. But it’s great to note that the gamble has paid off in a big way: May Bukas Pa has been enjoying very good ratings, proving what we’ve been saying all this time--that viewers want to be inspired by the dramas they watch.." However, he criticized the show's "religious" scenes which are "poorly, shallowly staged, thus making genuine inspiration and devotion difficult to come by while viewing the series." He further criticized the show's use of extras mostly playing sick people, who turn out to be bad actors. He adds, "Any director worth his salt would have sensed that the montage of healing needed good actors to make it meaningful and moving. Why were inept actors used instead? Possibly because the production was scrimping on talent fees. Well, it was a penny-wise pound-foolish decision, because the important sequence was botched."

Accolades

May Bukas Pa also received a special award at the 2009 Catholic Mass Media Awards, given by Cardinal Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales. The special award was received by lead star Zaijian Jaranilla and the supporting actors who play priests.
Also Anak TV Seal Awards Most Admired Program & also Zaijian Jaranilla as Male Makabata Awardee.

Reruns

of the show's episodes aired on Jeepney TV.

Community Quarantine rerun

May Bukas Pa returned to air on ABS-CBN, temporarily replacing FPJ's Ang Probinsyano beginning March 16, 2020 as part of ABS-CBN's temporary programming changes in response to the community quarantine caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. This rerun abruptly ended on May 4, 2020 due to the temporary closure of ABS-CBN following the cease and desist order issued by the National Telecommunications Commission on account of its franchise expiration.

Special Holy Week Rerun

In observance of the Lenten season, May Bukas Pa had its encore telecast on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday at 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm, and on Black Saturday at 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm as part of ABS-CBN's Holy Week presentation.
The 3-part marathon special topped the TNS Media Research ratings with "38.3% on Maundy Thursday, 32.6% on Good Friday, and 26.2% on Black Saturday".

In other media

On May 22, 2011, ABS-CBN aired a documentary entitled Banál on the occasion of the beatification of Pope John Paul II. Zaijian Jaranilla and Jaime Fabregas reprised their roles as Santíno and Father Anthony as they present the life of John Paul II and his significance for Filipinos.