May Bukas Pa

May Bukas Pa

Promotional poster
Genre Drama
Created by ABS-CBN Corporation
Developed by ABS-CBN Corporation
Directed by Jerome C. Pobocan
Jojo A. Saguin
Starring Zaijan Jaranilla
Dominic Ochoa
Albert Martinez
Dina Bonnevie
Tonton Gutierrez
Jaime Fabregas
Precious Lara Quigaman
Maja Salvador
Rayver Cruz
Lito Pimentel
Liza Lorena
Ruben Gonzaga
Ogie Diaz
Arlene Muhlach
Badjie Mortiz
Ending theme "May Bukas Pa" by
Kyle Balili and Erik Santos
Country of origin Philippines
Original language(s) Filipino, English
No. of episodes 263
Production
Executive producer(s) Roselle Beeegee-Soldao
Location(s) Metro Manila
Bacolor, Pampanga
Running time 30-45 minutes
Production company(s) Dreamscape Entertainment TV
Release
Original network ABS-CBN
Picture format NTSC (480i)
Original release February 2, 2009 (2009-02-02) – February 5, 2010 (2010-02-05)
External links
Website

May Bukas Pa (lit. There Is Still Tomorrow) is a Philippine drama series which started long-airing from February 2, 2009 to February 5, 2010 for one year. It is the highest-rated show of all time according to Kantar Media Philippines [1]

Production

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.

Plot

Santino (Zaijian Jaranilla), an orphan adopted by priests, has a supernatural friend called "Bro"(Jesus). Santíno and Bro have a series of adventures in the fictional town of Bagong Pag-Asa, where they help others with their problems.

Cast

[2]

Main cast

Santino, the show's central character, is portrayed by Zaijan Jaranilla

Supporting cast

Additional cast

Guest Stars By Chapter

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.[4]

Chapter Two: Remorse

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 take revenge, 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 a 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 taken over 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.[4]

Chapter Three: Forgiveness

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.[4]

Chapter Four: Memories

Julia because of her mom's recent memory loss, causing her 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.[4]

Chapter Five: History

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.[4]

Chapter Six: Marriage

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.[4]

Chapter Seven: Magic

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.[4]

Chapter Eight: Wealth

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.[4]

Chapter Nine: Search

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.[4]

Chapter Ten: Values

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.[4]

Chapter Eleven: Fame

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.[4]

Chapter Twelve: Truth

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.[4]

Returning Characters

Chapter Thirteen: Love

A woman and a man mysteriously appear in Bagong Pag-Asa and starts to search for their son. Santino knows that his real mother is probably alive and is mistaken as the son of Miriam.[4]

Chapter Fourteen: Inheritance

As Santino searches for his real mother, through the way of "lukso ng dugo" (a feeling), 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.[4]

Returning characters:

Chapter Fifteen: Return

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.[4]

Returning characters:

Chapter Sixteen: Hope

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. As Santino stays in the gang, he meets Tatay Ben, a lonely old man whose the leader. Meanwhile, Father Paul was shot by one of Father 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.[4]

Chapter Seventeen: Justice

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.[4]

Returning characters:

Chapter Eighteen: Runaway

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.[4]

Chapter Nineteen: Past

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.[4]

Chapter Twenty: Revenge

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.[4]

Chapter Twenty-One: Sacrifice

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.[4]

Chapter Twenty-Two: Rivalry

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.[4]

Chapter Twenty-Three: Epidemic

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.[4]

Chapter Twenty-Four: Pestilence

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 an active volcano nearby is whats causing 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.[4]

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.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Home

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.[4]

Chapter Twenty-Six: Care

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.[4]

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Lost

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" (Iwahid Kid). 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.[4]

Returning characters:

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Choices

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.[4]

Returning characters:

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Foster

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.[4]

Chapter Thirty: Greed

Santino meets the infamous Aling Soledad, a grumpy old lady 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 [to Tilde] 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.[4]

Returning characters:

Chapter Thirty-One: Family

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.[9]

Chapter Thirty-Two: Trust

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.[9]

Returning characters:

Chapter Thirty-Three: Joy

Father Jose’s finds a way to search for employment, he tries his luck in a job opening at Boss Jeff’s house. He instantly gets the job after the said employer brusquely fires the newly hired for the particular position. Incidentally, Boss Jeff is pretty notorious among his employees. Apparently, he is vastly cruel to them, most especially to those who work in his toy store.[10]

Chapter Thirty-Four: Alone

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.[4]

Returning characters:

Chapter Thirty-Five: Father

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.[11]

Returning characters:

Chapter Thirty-Six: Temptation

After Enrique's death, Tilde was arrested for being involved in the death of Malena. However, she was able to escape by pretending that she's going to 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 (possibly Satan's) 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.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Believe

A 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 (actually Satan). 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 dear life. Meanwhile, detainees in Bagong Pag-asa's jail held the police chief hostage, and ordered all policemen to give them their arms.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Amen

Santino has now returned to Bagong Pag-asa. Tilde deviously abducts Mario's daughter Joy, and requested that Santino be brought to her in exchange for Joy's release. Santino then told 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 Tilde 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 was punished and imprisoned. 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 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.

Returning characters:

The Singers:

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.[12] On June 23, 2009, ABS-CBN television head Cory Vidanes announced that the show would be extended until February 2010.[13]

The finale posted a whopping 47.3% national household rating according to Kantar Media/TNS.

Reviews

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."[14]

Christmas events

Parol ni Bro Promotion

ABS-CBN station's Christmas celebration was dedicated to the show. The main song was entitled "Bro, Ikaw ang Star ng Pasko" (Bro, You are the Star of Christmas). 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.[15]

Awards

2009 1st MTRCB TV Awards Special Award for Promoting Moral Values Won
Seoul International Drama Awards[16] Best Drama Series Nominated
Catholic Mass Media Awards Best Drama (tied with Tayong Dalawa) Won
ASAP Pop Viewer's Choice Awards Pop Kapamilya New Face (Zajian Jaranilla) Won
ASAP Pop Viewer's Choice Awards Pop Kapamilya TV ShowNominated
18th KBP Golden Dove Awards Best Primetime Drama Series Won
PMPC Star Awards for Television Best Primetime Drama Series Won
PMPC Star Awards for Television Best Male New TV Personality (Zajian Jaranilla) Won
PMPC Star Awards for Television Best Drama Actor (Albert Martinez) Nominated
2010 8th Gawad Tanglaw Special Jury Award for Television Won
8th Gawad Tanglaw Natatanging Gawad TANGLAW para sa Sining ng Telebisyon (Zaijan Jaranilla) Won
41st GMMSF Box-Office Entertainment Awards[17] TV Program of the Year Won
TV Directors of the Year (Jojo Saguin and Jerome Pobocan ) Won

May Bukas Pa also received a special award at the 2009 Catholic Mass Media Awards (besides its Best Drama award), given by Cardinal Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales. The special award was received by lead star Zaijian Jaranilla and the supporting actors who play priests (who also wore cassocks for the occasion).[18]

Also Anak TV Seal Awards Most Admired Program & also Zaijian Jaranilla as Male Makabata Awardee.

Special re-run

In observance of the Lenten season, May Bukas Pa had its encore telecast on Maundy Thursday (April 9, 2009), Good Friday (April 10, 2009) at 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm, and on Black Saturday (April 11, 2009) 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".[19]

Banál

On May 22, 2011, ABS-CBN aired the documentary entitled Banál (Tagalog for "holy") on the occasion of the beatification of Pope John Paul II. The characters of Santíno and Father Anthony are presenters in this documentary on the life of the late pontiff and his significance for Filipinos.

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.

References

  1. ↑ http://nationwidehitsandflopsph.blogspot.com/2013/01/kantar-media-philippiness-top-rating-tv.html
  2. ↑ "May Bukas Pa". ABS-CBN.com. 2011-04-15. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  3. ↑ In the show's universe, Santino was around 5 months old when he was found by the monks on February 2, 2003, making his birthday around September of 2002. http://inbetweentakes.com/2009/01/28/ang-abandonado/
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 "May Bukas Pa". ABS-CBN.com. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  5. ↑ "Makisig Morales: ‘Super bait po pala talaga ni Zaijian’". ABS-CBN.com. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  6. ↑ "Showbuzz". ABS-CBN.com. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  7. ↑ "Showbuzz". ABS-CBN.com. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  8. ↑ PEP.ph. "May Bukas Pa will soon feature Dolphy | PEP.ph: The Number One Site for Philippine Showbiz". PEP.ph. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "May Bukas Pa". ABS-CBN.com. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  10. ↑ "ABS-CBN.com". ABS-CBN.com. 2011-04-15. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  11. 1 2 "ABS-CBN.com". ABS-CBN.com. 2011-04-15. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  12. ↑ "May Bukas Pa” extended due to high ratings" by Noypitayo.com February 15, 2009
  13. ↑ "ABS-CBN extends airing of 'May Bukas Pa'". ABS-CBN News. 2009-06-23. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  14. ↑ "‘May Bukas Pa,’ plus and minus" by Nestor Torre March 16, 2009
  15. ↑ "Showbuzz". ABS-CBN.com. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  16. ↑ "Cristine Reyes attends Seoul International Drama Awards; Eva Fonda wins Special Prize". Telebisyon.net. 2011-11-23. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  17. ↑  Updated May 20, 2013 - 12:00am (2013-05-20). "Chiz: Don't extend Pagcor chief's term | Headlines, News, The Philippine Star". philstar.com. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  18. ↑ ABS-CBN wins big at 31st CMMAs --- from ABS-CBN News Online
  19. ↑ PEP.ph. "TNS National Ratings (April 7–13): May Bukas Pa extends its power during Holy Week | PEP.ph: The Number One Site for Philippine Showbiz". PEP.ph. Retrieved 2013-07-28.

External links

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