May Bukas Pa () is a Philippine drama television series produced by Dreamscape Entertainment Television 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.

It aired on ABS-CBN's Primetime Bida block from February 2, 2009, to February 5, 2010, replacing Eva Fonda and was replaced by Agua Bendita, and on its sister channel Jeepney TV from March 11 to December 5, 2013, underwent two original airing versions, the first to do so before the 2023–2024's Linlang in the 2020s. The series is the highest rated program on Philippine television since switching to Kantar in 2009, and holds the record on the network's primetime block for the period from its premiere on February 2, 2009, to February 3, 2011, when the 2010–2011 series Mara Clara became the block's highest-rating show from 2011 to 2012. It is inspired by the 1955 Spanish film, Marcelino pan y vino. The series is also a revival of the 2000-2001 series of the same name.

The entire series is on YouTube and iWant, while the series' recap is also on YouTube.

Overview The series revolves around Santino (Zaijian Jaranilla), a wide-eyed young boy orphaned as a baby and was adopted and raised well by Franciscans, whose life was completely different from other kids his age. He might have experienced playing with other children in the fictional town of Barangay Pag-asa, but what made him stand out was his ability to see and converse with Jesus Christ in the flesh, who he fondly called “Bro”, to heal sick people – a power bestowed to him by his Almighty Friend, and to help others with their problems.

Its story spanned for 38 chapters. There are five specials and one station ID related to the show were released.

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Character ChaptersOther contents 2009 2010–2014 Episodes 1–237 Episodes 238–263Pope John Paul II specials 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 34 34 35 36 37 PJPII 38 Cast Santino Guillermo colspan="40" Mayor Enrique D. Rodrigo/Gonzalvo Policarpio colspan="36" colspan="3" colspan="1" Malena Rodriguez-Rodrigo/Policarpio colspan="29" colspan="11" Criselda "Sélda" Rodriguez-Sta. Maria colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Mario Sta. Maria colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Stella R. Sta. Maria colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Francisco "Cocoy" Bautista colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Clautilde Katerina "Tilde" Magdayo-Rodrigo/Policarpio colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Fr. Anthony Ruiz colspan="40" Fr. José dela Cruz colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Fr. Gregorio "Ringo" Samonte colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Fr. Paul Makopa colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Fr. George colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Fr. Patrick colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Fr. Jude colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Renato "Atong" Arguelles colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Viviana "Baby" Arguelles colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Rico R. Rodrigo/Policarpio colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Joy R. Sta. Maria colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Fr. John Delgado colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Paco colspan="30" colspan="10" Alfred colspan="5" colspan="33" colspan="1" colspan="1" Doña Anita Rodriguez colspan="5" colspan="33" colspan="1" colspan="1" Dante Maorcio colspan="17" colspan="21" colspan="1" colspan="1" Robert Sanchez/Gustavo Policarpio colspan="14" colspan="21" colspan="5" Senior Superintendent Raul Guevarra colspan="10" colspan="28" colspan="1" colspan="1" Rosalie, Kimberly, and Jennifer colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1" Grace colspan="23" colspan="2" colspan="3" colspan="10" colspan="1" colspan="1" Pope John Paul II colspan="38" colspan="1" colspan="1"

Cast and characters Main cast

Cast Character Summary The show's protagonist, he is a naïve and attentive young boy.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 2002. The show's timeline skipped 5 years later in the series' first episode, where Santino now become 5 years old. From his birthday on the 143rd episode to the 263rd or finale episode, Santino's age is now 6 years old. Thus, the show featuring Santino as a young boy (where Zaijian Jaranilla now plays the character) takes place from 2008 to 2009 (one year before the show's airing of its two versions from 2009 to 2010 and 2013 and the latter is also a year where the series was first aired in real life). Longing for the love of his real mother, he meets with Jesus Christ in the flesh and calls him "Bro". Bro gives him healing powers and assists him as he patches up the lives of the people in their town. He is Enrique and Teresa's biological son. The mayor of Bagong Pag-asa. He is a stereotypical Filipino politician whose lust for wealth and power will drive him to do illegal acts. He never treated Stella as his real daughter; it is later revealed that Enrique is not her biological father. He is unaware that he is Santino's biological father and develops a sense of compassion for the boy. Later on in the story he learns he is adopted, the son of the couple who was killed when Doña Anita was taking over the land they lived on. He finally married Tilde. He was killed by his younger brother Robert after saving Santino's life and backing out of the mayoralty race, but not before informing Santino of his parentage. He was revealed to be Santino's father in the afterlife scene. The wife of Enrique. She will do everything to prove her love for her husband. Coming from a wealthy family, Malena envied her sister Selda's intelligence and love for Mario, since she loved him too. This pushed her to commit wrong deeds. Underneath her beauty and glamor is a dark secret that continues to haunt her, she is the only one who knows Santino's biological mother. It was later revealed in a flashback that she accidentally killed Santino's mother. She is initially mistaken to be Santino's mother. She was the only one who can prove that Santino is indeed Enrique's son with Teresa until it was later revealed that Tilde also knows about Malena's hidden secret. She was involved in an accident along with Rico, Malena is forced to get help from Santino causing her to forget her anger against him and accepted him as a friend. Irony takes its place after she and Tilde come face to face at the place where she accidentally killed Teresa. After a fight, Tilde accidentally pushed and killed Malena similarly to the way Malena killed Teresa. The wife of Mario, the mother of Joy, and the younger sister of Malena. She's a policewoman. Santino looks up to her as a mother-figure. Along with her sister Malena, she also came from a rich family but she gave up her lifestyle in order to be with her lover Mario and nearly separated from him after learning that Stella is his real daughter. A loyal policeman whose terminally-ill daughter Joy was miraculously healed by Santino. He is Sélda's husband, Malena's ex-lover and Stella's real father. He was dismissed from service for alleged insubordination and absence without leave, but resumed with the help of Santino and the townspeople. He nearly separated from Selda. According to several mentions from his superior, his father was also a loyal policeman who was shamefully dismissed for false charges against him, causing him to die as a broken man. Now, he wants to challenge Enrique by running against him in the upcoming mayoral elections. The obedient daughter of Enrique and Malena. She treats Santino as her younger brother. It is revealed that her biological father is Mario. She was once the girlfriend of Cocoy. She later leaves her parents for their differences, and moves in with Selda and Mario. Stella went to the US but came back with her grandmother. As she returns to Bagong Pag-asa, her anger towards Cocoy still emerged until she found out the truth and came got back with him. Later in the series, she was kidnapped by prostitute dealers after trying to visit her mother at a beach house. She tried to escape but accidentally lit a fire and caused an explosion. As the Bagong Pag-asa police witnessed, they claimed Stella's dead, 'til it was revealed that she did survive the explosion. Stella hasn't spent a lot of time with her mother returned to Bagong Pag-asa, where the household was currently having Malena's funeral. An orphaned young man who works as an assistant at the monastery. He was previously detained several times for petty crimes. He was in a relationship with Stella, but they both broke up when Stella asked to do so, and further distanced away when Stella was sent to the US. After explaining everything to her, they got back together, with Cocoy applying for a scholarship in a college to prove his worth to Stella. He is part of the college's basketball varsity team. The mayor's beautiful mistress and his second wife, she is a former prostitute. She helps to execute the mayor's orders in threatening Santino and the monks. It was later revealed that she was pregnant with Enrique's son. It was revealed that Tilde also knows that Malena killed her friend Teresa; she used this to threaten Malena so that the latter would separate with Enrique, which would ultimately result in Tilde finally having Enrique back in her hands. During a fight with Malena, she accidentally killed her after pushing her off a hill. Months after Malena's death, Enrique married Tilde, in the midst of an ongoing crisis in Bagong Pag-Asa. She was arrested after authorities solved the case of Malena's death, but escaped after pretending to go into labor. She kidnapped and accidentally killed Santino in an attempt to have him heal her colon cancer and save her baby.

Spiritual characters Cast Character Summary Nicknamed as "Bro", Jesus Christ is Santino's mysterious supernatural friend, who is the supposed source of his healing powers. In scenes where He converses with Santino, His face is hidden and remains so throughout the series. Camera angles used to obscure His face are from behind Him, hair covering the sides of His face (for side shots), a view of His torso part with the head offscreen, Santino from His perspective and other forms. In the "afterlife" scenes in the finale, sunlight obscures His face when cameras are focused on Him and before the end of the afterlife scenes, He is seen in silhouette. Unlike Bro who physically appears, Satan is only depicted as a reddish white light and speaks with a sinister, bone-chilling voice. He pretended to be Jesus and gave Rico psychic powers in order to prophesied misfortunes in Bagong Pag-Asa and he influenced Santino to leave Bagong Pag-asa, allowing Rico to do evil in that town. A mysterious, kindly looking old woman who appears in the afterlife. Introduced by "Bro" as his Mother.

The Priests