Albee to ‘move on’ after dismissal of case filed by wife

BACOLOD CITY--- Bacolod City Rep. Albee Benitez said it is time to "move on" after the Makati City Prosecutor's Office  dismissed the case filed against him by his wife Nikki Lopez-Benitez due to lack of evidence.

In a statement issued on Thursday through his spokesman Councilor Ceasar Distrito, Benitez asked the public that “this matter now be laid to rest, and that innocent individuals, especially my children, are given the privacy to move forward away from this controversy."

"I welcome the decision of the Makati City Prosecutor's Office dismissing, for lack of merit, the complaint filed against me under the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children (VAWC) Act," the lawmaker said.

After a thorough legal review, the prosecutor found no basis to charge Benitez with economic abuse or psychological violence.

“The allegations were unsupported by evidence and did not meet the legal standards for criminal prosecution," he said.

"Throughout this process, I remained silent out of respect for my family and confidence in the legal system. This resolution confirms what I have maintained from the beginning—that the accusations were baseless and malicious."

The lawmaker’s wife filed a complaint against Benitez for violation of the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004 (RA 9262), alleging emotional and psychological abuse, as well as economic abuse.

She claimed that her husband had extramarital affairs, including one with vlogger-actress Ivana Alawi, which caused her severe mental distress. 

She also alleged that he fathered two children outside their marriage.

The Makati City Prosecutor's Office dismissed the complaint, stating that Lopez-Benitez failed to present sufficient evidence to support her claims. The prosecutor noted that the allegations of marital infidelity were based on hearsay and unreliable evidence.

The prosecutor, in the decision dated June 23 but released on July 9,

 to the public found that wife's claims of psychological violence were based on Albee Benitez's alleged admissions in a Psychological Evaluation Report, which was later disputed by the doctor who issued the report.

The complaint was filed 22 years after the alleged infidelity occurred, which raised questions about the timing and motivations behind the filing.

Albee Benitez's camp denied the allegations, calling them "baseless and retaliatory," and pointed out that the complaint was filed shortly after he initiated annulment proceedings in 2024.