On November 8, 2013, the Philippines was battered by one of the strongest typhoons to make landfall, with Yolanda leaving at least 6,000 dead. Countless others are still missing. A year on, much remains to be done for those in Tacloban, Palo, Guiuan, Basey and other towns in badly-beaten Leyte and Samar. As GMA News and Public Affairs’ team of journalists go on the ground to document the rehabilitation efforts, tent cities remain, houses are back in no-build zones, people struggle to make a living, and stories of both survival and tragedy linger.

Viewers who missed watching the family-friendly Halloween series ELEMENTO, which brought to life creatures from Philippine myths and legends, can still catch its reruns on GMA News TV this November 7, 14, 21, and 28 at 10:15 PM after State of the Nation with Jessica Soho.

GMA News TV airs a powerful documentary – with an Emmy Award nominated trailer – in time for the 1st anniversary of Typhoon Yolanda. Produced by U.S. production house Big Monster Entertainment, the documentary entitled Six Hours: Surviving Typhoon Yolanda, retells the story of Yolanda’s shocking devastation primarily through the eyes and cameras of GMA anchor and senior reporter Jiggy Manicad and his news coverage team.

As the Christmas season begins, GMA Kapuso Foundation (GMAKF) launches the Celebrity Ukay-Ukay on November 14, with Kapuso onscreen couple Tom Rodriguez and Carla Abellana as its new advocates.

From a year of loss to a year of hope, GMA Network rekindles the Christmas spirit in the hearts of Yolanda survivors with an outpouring of love that gives them a wonderful new beginning. This year, Christmas came early to the Kapuso Village in Tacloban as the Network held a salu-salo for beneficiaries who will soon celebrate the Yuletide season in newly-built homes they can call their own. The Kapuso Village in Tacloban is the first permanent housing project in the area for survivors of Typhoon Yolanda, with 49 houses ready for occupancy. By next week, an additional 123 houses will be ready, and in the coming months, 231 more houses will be turned over to their new owners.

GMA Network received multiple honors for its value-laden programs and special projects at the recently held 36th Catholic Mass Media Awards.

PARAÑAQUE City, Nov. 2, 2014—Is “Undas” really a day exclusively for the dead? Not quite, said a priest, stressing this Catholic tradition is more about the “communion of the saints” than just a yearly remembrance of “our dearly departed.” In his homily Sunday, the Feast of All Souls, Fr. Gilbert Rómulo of the Cathedral Parish of St. Andrew explained the three days of Hallowtide—Halloween, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day—remind the faithful of the “Communion of Saints.”

BORONGAN, Eastern Samar, Nov. 2, 2014—Almost a year after Yolanda, the Diocese of Borongan, headed by Bishop Crispin Varquez, recently released a progress report on its two-phase program for Yolanda-affected communities. According to the Diocese’s Commission on Social Action, Justice, and Peace (DCSA-JP), the first phase of the program involved emergency response, and was implemented from December 2013 to March 2014, providing survivors their basic needs.

BORONGAN City, Eastern Samar, Nov. 2, 2014—To mark super typhoon Yolanda’s first year anniversary, the Diocese of Borongan has a host of activities lined up. Themed “The Challenge of Yolanda: the Courage to Hope,” these activities aim to commemorate, not only the thousands who have fallen, but to celebrate the thousands more who survived the typhoon, as well as to thank the individuals and groups that helped and continue to help in the rescue, recovery, rehabilitation, and relief efforts in the communities affected.

October 31, 2014: Yolanda survivors in San Jose, Tacloban City cast flowers to the sea in memory of the thousands of people who perished to the typhoon surge brought about by Yolanda almost a year ago. (CBCPNews)