Surangel S. Whipps Jr. (born 9 August 1968) is a Palauan businessman and politician, who has served as the president of

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Ca ...

since 2021. He served as senator from 2008 to 2016. He is from

Ngatpang Ngatpang is one of Palau's sixteen states. It comprises an area of around 47 square kilometers in the west of Palau's largest island, Babeldaob, facing onto Ngeremeduu Bay. The state capital is Ngerdubech. It has a population of 282, making ...

state, Republic of Palau. Whipps assumed office as the President of Palau on 21 January 2021.

Early life and education

Whipps was born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

, to

Surangel Whipps Surangel S. Whipps (born 21 February 1941) is a Palauan businessman and politician. He served as the president of the Senate of Palau from January 2005 to April 2005, and from 25 April 2007 to 15 January 2009, and as the speaker of the House of D ...

Sr. and a mother who was born in Maryland. He has a degree in Business Administration and Economics from

Andrews University Andrews University is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists and is the flagship univer ...

and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

from

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

. In addition, he heads a chain of Palauan supermarkets. He ran against his brother-in-law, President

Thomas Remengesau Jr. Thomas Esang "Tommy" Remengesau Jr. (born 28 February 1956) is a Palauan politician; in 2013 he was elected the ninth president of Palau and was re-elected to that office in 2016. Previously he served as the seventh president of the island nat ...

, who was running for re-election, in the

2016 Palauan general election General elections were held in Palau on 1 November 2016 to elect a President and the National Congress. Incumbent President Tommy Remengesau was challenged by his brother-in-law, Surangel Whipps Jr. for the presidency, emerging as the top two in ...

Remengesau received 5109 votes while Whipps won 4854 votes. Jake Sullivan and Surangel Whipps Jr

Spouse and children

Whipps married Valerie Esang Remengesau in 1999 and the couple had four children.

Tenure

Whipps ran for president in the

2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **Cro ...

and defeated Vice-president

Raynold Oilouch Raynold B. Oilouch (born 1965 or 1966) is a Palauan politician who served as the Vice President of Palau from 19 January 2017 to 21 January 2021. Oilouch was elected vice president in the 2016 elections The following elections occurred in t ...

in a campaign in which he stressed tax reforms and the creation of additional sources of revenue. In an interview with the Guardian, then President-elect Whipps Jr. made the statement that Palau would more strongly oppose the actions of the Chinese government including

illegal fishing Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) is an issue around the world. Fishing industry observers believe IUU occurs in most fisheries, and accounts for up to 30% of total catches in some important fisheries. Illegal fishing takes p ...

and trespassing in Palauan waters as well as vowing to maintain the country's recognition of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

. In addition, he proposed to distribute the

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an est ...

amongst Palau's population, with an emphasis on healthcare workers. During the

COP26 The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The ...

meeting in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, Whipps said "We are drowning, and our only hope is the life-ring you are holding", strongly criticizing world powers in his speech. On 28 September 2022, on the occasion of the state funeral for

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), President of the Lib ...

, Japan's former prime minister, in Tokyo, Whipps was one of only seven heads of state which met with

Japanese Emperor The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...

Naruhito is the current Emperor of Japan. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 1 May 2019, beginning the Reiwa era, following the abdication of his father, Akihito. He is the 126th monarch according to Japan's traditional order of succession. ...

. In October 2022, President Whipps visited

again. He arrived in Taiwan on 5 October and was welcomed by President

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served a ...

when he stepped off the plane. This was his second trip to visit Taiwan during his presidency.

References

1968 births Living people Members of the Senate of Palau Palauan people of American descent People from Ngatpang People from Baltimore Presidents of Palau {{Palau-politician-stub