Santos Olikong was a Palauan politician and a former Speaker of the

House of Delegates of Palau The House of Delegates of Palau is the lower house of the Palau National Congress (''Olbiil era Kelulau''), Palau's bicameral legislature. The Senate of Palau is the upper house. The House of Delegates has 16 members, each serving four-year term ...

. He was also a senator, bank manager and cabinet minister. In 1972, Olikong was appointed as the manager of the Koror branch of the

Bank of Hawaii The Bank of Hawaii Corporation (; abbreviated BOH) is an American regional commercial bank headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is Hawaii's second oldest bank and its largest locally owned bank in that the majority of the voting stockholders re ...

. By 1980, Olikong was vice-speaker of Palau legislature. In the 1980 elections he won a delegate seat in the

representing the State of

Koror Koror is the state comprising the main commercial centre of the Republic of Palau. It consists of several islands, the most prominent being Koror Island (also ''Oreor Island''). It is Palau’s most populous state. History In the oral tradition of ...

. He was elected Speaker of the

from 1985 to 1988. He opposed the

Compact of Free Association The Compacts of Free Association (COFA) are international agreements establishing and governing the relationships of free association between the United States and the three Pacific Island sovereign states of the Federated States of Micronesia ( ...

. Olikong was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in the 1988 elections. Later he was appointed as

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

by President Ngiratkel Etpison. Olikong was an unsuccessful candidate in the primaries of the presidential elections of 2000. President Remengesau appointed him as ambassador to Japan in 2004. Olikong died before Christmas Day in 2011 at the age of 73, so he was born ca. 1937–1939. He was described to have been a colorful figure who always had an opinion. He held Koror traditional title 'Rubasech'.

References

1930s births 2011 deaths 20th-century Palauan politicians Ambassadors of Palau to Japan Government ministers of Palau Members of the Senate of Palau People from Koror Palauan bankers Speakers of the House of Delegates of Palau {{Palau-politician-stub