---
type: Place
title: Marawi
description: The Islamic City of Marawi in Mindanao, held by pro-ISIS militants for five months in 2017 — a ruined centre, unexploded ordnance, and families still in "temporary" shelters six years on.
tags: [marawi, mindanao, philippines, conflict, displacement]
coordinates: {lat: 8.0047, lng: 124.2854}
timestamp: 2026-08-04T12:00:00Z
---

# Marawi

The Islamic City of Marawi, in Mindanao in the
[Philippines](/countries/philippines.md). In 2017 pro-ISIS militants seized
the city and fought government forces — backed, as Harry notes, by the US and
UK — for five months. The siege displaced 98% of the population, some 350,000
people, and killed over a thousand including civilians. Harry arrived on the
sixth anniversary to find the centre still a ruin and effectively unpopulated:
the former high street gone, the schools obliterated, and no reconstruction
beyond the roads.

## What Harry did

Travelled overland from Davao, then walked the destroyed centre with Cocoy, a
local contact whose own house was flattened and is now being rebuilt. He went
inside shelled buildings and saw the holes the militants cut through interior
walls so they could move across the city without being spotted by drones. He
then visited both the permanent housing and the temporary shelters, talked with
residents about the siege and its aftermath, bought chicken franks for hungry
children, and stayed the night in the city.

## Practical facts

- Getting there: an overland bus from Davao, 700 pesos, taking most of a day
  (from video – unverified). Tickets are handwritten on a sheet of paper —
  there is no online booking.
- Bisaya is spoken on the route rather than Tagalog; Marawi itself is Muslim,
  and greetings are Islamic.
- Unexploded bombs and rockets remain in the ruined areas. Do not wander in
  alone.
- Six years after the siege the government had restored roads but not
  electricity in the destroyed districts.
- Permanent shelters awarded in 2020 were still under construction and largely
  uninhabited.
- Temporary shelters run on a five-year contract, after which the landowner
  takes the houses. They have electricity but no running water; one resident
  told Harry her household had received no food supplies for almost two years,
  with three families sharing the area.
- Returning home requires paperwork and the money to rebuild, which most
  displaced families do not have.
- A clean hotel room cost $30 a night.
- On safety, roughly half the people Harry asked beforehand said it was fine
  and half said don't go. He walked it at night and describes it as peaceful
  and safe.

## Harry's tips

- Go and see for yourself rather than trusting the split advice — see
  [judge a place for yourself](/tips/judge-a-place-for-yourself.md).
- Arrange a local contact before arriving. Harry was given Cocoy's number, and
  that access is what turned a ruin tour into conversations with residents.
- Bring something to give. The people here have least and offer most — Harry's
  host insisted on paying for his hotel.

## Source

- [Inside the Terror City of the Philippines 🇵🇭](/videos/byMTwo1zgB4.md) —
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byMTwo1zgB4