Some 5k residents are back to where the Marawi siege began

Some 5,000 residents of Marawi City's Barangay Basak Malutlut where the ISIS-Maute siege began on May 23 have returned to their homes after being driven out by the resulting war that lasted for five months.

A report on Super Radyo dzBB early on Sunday morning said that some barangay residents became emotional after seeing their homes in ruins.

Barangay Basak Malutlut was the staging point of the Marawi siege that saw the first burst of gun fire where security forces attempted to serve the arrest warrant for ISIS-anointed emir Isnilon Hapilon, who was killed on the final days of the war.

Last Friday, GMA News "Unang Balita" reported that Barangay Basak Malutlut residents were scheduled to return to their homes by October 29.

At the first burst of gunfire on May 23, residents ran for their lives, leaving their homes, belongings, pets and livestock.

Meanwhile, local health officials had scheduled fumigation in the barangay to drive away mosquitoes carrying the deadly dengue virus.

Locals officials said that water supply could be a problem in the few days of resettlement as only one of the six pumping stations was working as of late last week.

Power supply is limited as several power lines were knocked off by the months of fierce fighting that also displaced some 400,000 city residents. —LBG, GMA News