By Czarina Nicole Ong Ki  Former Consolacion Mayor Avelino Gungob Sr. of Cebu has been cleared of his graft and grave coercion charges by the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division due to the failure of the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Gungob was earlier charged for violation of Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and Article 286 of the Revised Penal Code, otherwise known as Grave Coercion. (MANILA BULLETIN) On August 26, 2009, Gungob was accused of acting manifest partiality and evident bad faith when he dumped earth materials onto the private lands of spouses Jose and Lourdes Bihag and Nelia Alvarez Cano-og in Brgy. Consolacion, even though the lands were already planted with corn and ready for harvest. He reportedly did so even though Branch 28 of the Regional Trial Court in Mandaue City already dismissed the expropriation case filed by the municipality, therefore causing undue damage in the amount of P23,860. For his grave coercion charge, Gungob was accused of feloniously entering the properties of the Bihag couple, as well as those of Teres Alegado and Susana Cantago in Brgy. Danlag. He reportedly confiscated their farm tools, threatened to imprison them if they refuse to stop tilling their lands, and dump earth materials onto their lands. In its ruling, the anti-graft court found that the prosecution was not able to establish all of the elements of graft and grave coercion. After reviewing the testimonies of the Bihag couple, the anti-graft court noticed some "dispute as to the veracity of the alleged incident that took place on August 26, 2009." The couple alleged in a joint affidavit complaint executed before the Ombudsman dated September 11, 2006 that Gungob arrived with six persons, two policemen, and violently took their tools and shouted things at them. But during their cross-examination before the court, they revealed otherwise. When asked if he was present during the incident that took place, Jose Bihag answered, "No sir." Cano-og likewise admitted that she was not present on August 26. "No, I have not seen him, sir," she said. At the same time, the court ruled that the records were bereft of any evidence of Gungob's manifest partiality or evident bad faith when he put up barriers and fences at the middle of the road opening. The barriers were for the Mountain Highway Project, a road network project envisioned to interconnect different barangays of the municipality, especially those in the mountain area. During the implementation of the project, Gungob received information that some people were obstructing the construction by putting up fences along the path. He personally went to the said area on August 26 to talk to the landowners not to put up any obstructions for the project. "As Mayor, he was authorized to do acts appropriate under the circumstance to ensure the efficiency of the execution of a legitimate project. Otherwise stated, in the absence of a clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, the accused had in his favor the presumption of regularity in the performance of official duties," the court ruled. The 21-page decision was penned by Associate Justice Maryann Corpus-Manalac with the concurrence of Chairperson Rafael Lagos and Associate Justice Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega.