ROLE PLAYERS 2019 - Sally A. Lee


Sally A. Lee

City Mayor
City Government of Sorsogon

Mayor Sally Ante Lee was born in Lapog, Ilocos Norte in 1942 where she spent most of her younger years before moving to Sorsogon in 1966 when she married the former Governor of the Province of Sorsogon, Hon. Raul R. Lee.

She is a Certified Public Accountant by profession but during the early stage of their marriage she opted to focus on being a hands-on mother to her three children and as first lady of the municipality where Atty. Raul Lee first served as Mayor.

At that time she was also very active in church and has been joining evangelization efforts. She was also doing outreach programs and services to communities.

She decided to enter the public service when she realized that she could do more for her people by becoming a leader. In 2001, she ran and was elected first City Mayor of Sorsogon. She now holds the distinction of being the first ever lady Mayor since the creation of Sorsogon as a political unit in 1894 and of being the first City Mayor since the merger of the municipalities of Bacon and Sorsogon into one City.

She served as Mayor of Sorsogon City for two (2) consecutive terms; from 2001 until 2007.

In 2010, she became the first lady Governor of the province of Sorsogon.

In 2013, Mayor Sally returned as Mayor of Sorsogon City and carried on with her development agenda under a flagship program called HEARTS meaning Health, Environment, Agriculture, Rural Development, Tourism and Shelter. Initiatives were further introduced which led to the declaration of Sorsogon City as Character, Prolife, and Organic City.

In her second term as City Mayor, Mayor Sally is even more determined in pushing forward her agenda on healthy lifestyle and healthy eating, going organic, community-based tourism, good governance/participatory governance, and localization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which she believes shall transform Sorsogon into a livable and sustainable City. Mayor Sally is now a prominent figure in international forums, being invited to speak and share Sorsogon City’s experience in local governance particularly in anti-corruption practices, in climate change and disaster risk management, in migration and development, in the role of women in governance and women empowerment, in housing and resettlement, and in urban and sustainable development.

Recently she has been keen in putting Sorsogon in the global map for organic agriculture practices; particularly in promoting and enhancing the potentials of the local product, the “Pili” especially its elemi which she believes can be a good source of stable income to farmers, livelihood organizations, and local entrepreneurs. She now leads a team that is devoted to aggressively implementing strategies to “Position Sorsogon as the Home of High Value Pili and Abaca Products”. Because of this, Sorsogon has recently been conferred a Silver Award by the Institute for Solidarity in Asia for its good governance efforts in boosting the City’s economy by opening more livelihood opportunities through the enhancement of the pili as well as other crops.

Despite all the commitments, she still finds way to deep dive in communities to personally interact with her people – truly, a passionate and dedicated Mother of her City, Sorsogon.