Surangel Whipps Jr.
Surangel Samuel Whipps Jr. is a Palauan businessman and politician who has served as the president of Palau since 2021. He served as senator from 2008 to 2016. He is from the state of Ngatpang. Whipps assumed office as the President of Palau on 21 January 2021, after winning the 2020 Palauan presidential election. He won reelection in 2024.
Early life and education
Whipps was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Surangel Whipps Sr. His mother is from Maryland. He is of Palauan and American ancestry.He has a degree in Business Administration and Economics from Andrews University and an MBA from University of California, Los Angeles. In addition, he heads a chain of Palauan supermarkets.
He ran against his brother-in-law, President Thomas Remengesau Jr., who was running for re-election, in the 2016 Palauan general election. Remengesau received 5,109 votes while Whipps won 4,854 votes.
Personal life
Whipps married Valerie Esang Remengesau in 1999; the couple have four children. He is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In December 2003, following the DePaiva family murders, Whipps accompanied the surviving daughter after the crimes and upon her return to Palau for visit in 2018 and 2022, declaring her and her murdered family a "national family of Palau."Tenure
Whipps ran for president in the 2020 presidential election and defeated Vice President Raynold Oilouch 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 and trespassing in Palauan waters as well as vowing to maintain the country's recognition of Taiwan. In addition, he proposed to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine amongst Palau's population, with an emphasis on healthcare workers.During the COP26 meeting in Glasgow, 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, Japan's former Prime Minister, in Tokyo, Whipps was one of only seven heads of state who had meetings with the Japanese Emperor Naruhito.
In October 2022, President Whipps visited Taiwan for the second time in his presidency. He arrived in Taiwan on 5 October and was welcomed by President Tsai Ing-wen when he stepped off the plane.
President Whipps serves on the advisory council of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue University, which is dedicated to accelerating the innovation and adoption of trusted technology to advance freedom.
In the 2024 Palauan general election, Whipps Jr. was re-elected for a second term. He earned 5,626 votes, defeating former president Thomas Remengesau Jr. who received 4,103.
On July 29, 2024, he delivered the speech Upholding the [Common Heritage of Humankind] to the International Seabed Authority Assembly in Jamaica, arguing against seabed mining.