By JEN BAYLON

About 112 families have received their third notice to vacate the privately owned donated property in Bacolod City’s Barangay 39, Negros Occidental Provincial Legal Office head Alberto Nellas, Jr. said.

Nellas said several families received the notices to vacate, while some refused to accept them.

However, he emphasized that acceptance does not guarantee that residents will leave, as many continue to resist compliance.

Nellas said the provincial government was adhering to a three-notice rule.

If residents persist in refusing to vacate, an ejectment case will be filed in court, he added.

The issuance of the third vacate notice is part of an ongoing effort by the provincial government to reclaim the land, which was originally donated by the Lizares family in 1954.

The approximately 7,000-square-meter property in Barangay 39 has been a contentious issue since the Lizares family sought to cancel the deed of donation in 2012, after the land was not utilized by the provincial government for its intended purpose.

In 2021, the court upheld the cancellation, allowing for a compromise where the government retains some portions of its offices while returning about a portion of the property to the Lizares family free of informal settler families./JB, WDJ