A typical day for the family and neighbors of Janisa Dali consists of waiting for the rain to fill their containers with water.

The rain also brings the mist that covers the mountains surrounding Marawi City.

“Dito kami nakatira, may view kami ng tinaguriang Sleeping Beauty of Marawi (We live here where we have a view of the Sleeping Beauty of Marawi)," Janisa said, describing the fog-covered mountain with a smile that can be seen through her veil.

The scene exhibits both the dire situation the residents are in and the captivating beauty of the place that has always drawn them back.

Here in their permanent housing unit in Barangay Kilala in Sagonsonan, a valley that lies opposite the city of Marawi, are thousands of evacuees who ran for their lives during the siege of Marawi in May 2017.

Before the siege, they had been living most of their lives in Marawi City, near the river close to Banggolo bridge, one of the places where heavy fighting between government forces and ISIS militants took place.

After two years of staying in temporary evacuation shelters, hundreds of displaced residents got homes in 2019 with the help of the United Nations (UN) Habitat for Humanity and the government. The government has been building more housing complexes here and in other places to accommodate other evacuees.

The task is difficult and there is a long line of beneficiaries waiting to be awarded their permanent housing units.

Five thousand families remain in temporary shelters in Marawi City, nearly five years since the city's liberation from the clutches of Islamic State-inspired terrorists.

Task Force Bangon Marawi Assistant Secretary Felix Castro said they continue to work to give permanent shelters to the displaced.

“There are almost 5,000 families in transitory shelters, they are waiting. But some have moved to the permanent shelters we have finished. Next week, we have 157 units we will turn over," he said in an interview with ABS-CBN News.

Still in the pipeline is the creation of the Marawi Compensation Board, which will compensate Maranaos whose houses were destroyed beyond repair during the siege.

Just across the street from Dali are rows upon rows of other housing units still being built. While they are being built, many of the basic facilities, like the drainage system, are being constructed at the same time.

Permanent water supply is one of the necessities yet to be delivered, hence the dependence on the rain.

“Naghihintay kami dito sa hapon para pag umulan iniipon namin. Ginagamit namin pang hugas at pang laba pero hindi pang inom at pang luto,” Dali explained.

(Our time in the afternoon is spent waiting for the rain, we store and use it usually for general cleaning and washing clothes, but not for drinking and cooking.)

Water is just one basic necessity still needed by the people to get back to their normal lives. The communities also need other facilities like health centers, children's clinics aside from better roads and functioning drainage systems. Electricity and internet connection are further down the list.

But for now they get by with what they have and are even thankful for it. They just hope the government’s compensation law will provide them with resources they can use to build back the homes they lost to the war.

Construction of additional housing units are underway to accommodate other displaced residents as they attempt to achieve some normalcy five years after their lives were interrupted by the Marawi siege in this photo taken on October 15, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Construction of additional housing units are underway to accommodate other displaced residents as they attempt to achieve some normalcy five years after their lives were interrupted by the Marawi siege in this photo taken on October 15, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Construction of additional housing units are underway to accommodate other displaced residents as they attempt to achieve some normalcy five years after their lives were interrupted by the Marawi siege in this photo taken on October 15, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Construction of additional housing units are underway to accommodate other displaced residents as they attempt to achieve some normalcy five years after their lives were interrupted by the Marawi siege in this photo taken on October 15, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Evacuees spend time in housing units provided by the government and private sector in Marawi on October 15, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Evacuees spend time in housing units provided by the government and private sector in Marawi on October 15, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Life goes on for people of Marawi in this photo taken on October 15, 2022, five years after the liberation of Marawi from ISIS militants. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Janisa Dali, a recipient of a housing unit from UN Habitat for Humanity, waits outside her house in Barangay Kilala in Sagonsongan in Marawi City in this photo taken on October 15, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Residents of the housing facility welcome afternoon rains that replenish their water supply in Sagonsongan in Marawi City on October 15, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Residents of the housing facility welcome afternoon rains that replenish their water supply in Sagonsongan in Marawi City on October 15, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Sania Cosain Amerol and daughter Sabyan Samsoden stand at the doorway of their home at a housing complex in Sagonsongan in Marawi City on October 16, 2022. Then 11-year-old Samsoden had to run with her family and evacuate their home when ISIS militants took over Marawi City. Samsoden lost her grandfather while her sister suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Children play at the housing complex for evacuees in Marawi City on October 15, 2022. Five years on, the residents of Marawi city’s most affected area try to continue their lives here in Sagonsongan in Marawi. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Evacuees try to achieve normalcy as they stay in housing units provided by the government and private sector albeit under temporary circumstances in Marawi on October 15, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Children play at the housing complex for evacuees in Marawi City on October 15, 2022. Five years after the siege, the residents of Marawi city’s most affected area try to continue their lives here in Sagonsongan. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News