Five years after the last bombs were dropped and the last bullets fired, Marawi City remains eerily haunted by the five-month siege by ISIS militants that killed hundreds and 'terrorized' the once premier Islamic city in the country.

Efforts to rehabilitate the city center that was the Main Battle Area (MBA) during the war are still ongoing. Main structures like the Islamic Center, Rizal Park, the Bato Mosque and the main commercial avenue of Gomisa have either been rehabilitated or resurrected.

But what is noticeably absent are the residents who used to give this city its life. It was, after all, the center of culture, education and commerce for majority of Muslims in the region. The activities that breathed life to the city before have been replaced by construction, official visits, and the occasional trips of residents given permission to do some cleaning or just passing through to another destination.

Today, Marawi City is a shadow of its old self. Rehabilitation work has been ongoing since the end of the war, but for some, especially its senior residents, this has been agonizingly slow.

THEN: The Main Battle Area (MBA) in Marawi City overlooking Lanao Lake, after five months of fighting between government troops and ISIS-influenced combatants. Fernando G. Sepe Jr., ABS-CBN News

NOW: The same view overlooking the lake, with the newly restored Rizal Park on October 15, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

THEN: Gomisa Avenue (formerly Quezon Avenue) in Brgy. Datu in Dansalan after the war in 2017.Jeff Canoy, ABS-CBN News

NOW: A restored Gomisa Avenue on October 15, 2022, five years after the siege. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

THEN: The Grand Mosque or Islamic Center in Marawi City in 2017 after the siege. Jeff Canoy, ABS-CBN News

NOW: The restored Grand Mosque, on October 15, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

THEN: Sultans, ulamas and imams seeing the heavily damaged Grand Mosque for the first time after the war on November 24, 2017. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

NOW: The Grand Mosque with its restored domes on October 15, 2022, five years after the Marawi Siege. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

THEN: A deserted street in the Main Battle Area (MBA) in Marawi City after the siege in 2017. Fernando G. Sepe Jr., ABS-CBN News

NOW: Students of a local Madrassa walk along one of the main streets, now restored, in what is now known as the Most Affected Area (MAA), on October 15, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

THEN: Government troops take position near Mapandi Bridge on August 30, 2017 in Marawi City. Val Cuenca, ABS-CBN News

NOW: The restored and now busy Mapandi Bridge is the main thoroughfare to the center of Marawi City, October 15, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

THEN: The heavily damaged Bato Mosque after five months of clashes between government troops and ISIS-influenced fighters. Fernando G. Sepe Jr., ABS-CBN News

NOW: The Bato Mosque, rebuilt on another site, stands out as one of the new developments inside the former Main Battle Area (MBA), now called the Most Affected Area (MAA), in Marawi City on October 15, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News