| Governor
Salvacion Z. Perez was elected Governor of the Province of
Antique in 2001. A multi-awarded outstanding local chief executive,
she is by far the most influential and highly esteemed woman
leader Antique ever had. On top of her priority agenda, her
governance of “good politics” means promoting
first local autonomy and decentralization, thereby marking
the release of Antique from the infamous “Club 20,”
referring to the twenty poorest provinces of the country.
Taking
over what former Gov. Evelio B. Javier had started, she lifted
up the Antiqueño pride and spirit to new heights through
her Antique First policy and programs that brought about the
blooming of Kinaray-a arts and culture and boosting up of
sports and tourism. Because of this “culture of rediscovering
an Antiqueño”, outsiders begin to say, “if
it comes from Antique, it must be good.” When mistaken
for an Ilongo, now, an Antiqueño is proud to say, “Antiqueño
takun” (I’m from Antique).
Being
of Spanish and Chinese ancestry, Inday Sally as she is fondly
called is a scion of a well loved and illustrious family of
the late Supreme Court justice, Calixto Zaldivar of Pandan.
An alumna of the Central Philippine University and the University
of the Philippines (BS Foreign Service and A.B. Political
Science), she pursued post-graduate studies (Management Course)
at the Asian Institute of Management.
Before her public life, she served as an executive secretary
at the Insular Life Assurance Co., and as Ayala Museum Administrator.
She also chaired the Antique Development Foundation, and was
a founding trustee of the Evelio B. Javier Foundation (EBJF).
After private sector engagements, she worked in various capacities
as a management staff at the Supreme Court, U.P. and the Office
of Senator Edgardo Angara. She joined the Presidential Legislative
Liaison Office in Malacañang as Undersecretary in 1998.
Gov.
Perez is a stateswoman more than a politician. A paisano of
Loren Legarda – an Antiqueña, she is very close
to the senator.
Her
third and last term bodes quite well and with good fortune.
Her fellow governors has just recently elected her as the
Vice-President for Visayas in the League of Provinces of the
Philippines, and an unprecedented second term as unopposed
Chairperson of the Regional Development Council for Region
VI.
Gov. Perez is a widow blessed with three children: Dennis
Patrick, now RTC judge if Binangonan, Rizal; Rosario Elena,
a stage actress; and Noel Henri, liaison officer of the Provincial
Government of Antique.
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