Surangel S. Whipps

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Surangel Samuel Whipps Sr. (born February 21, 1941) is a Palauan businessman and politician. He was born in Airai, Palau, and is married to Marie Whipps since 1965; they have four children, including Surangel Jr. and Mason. He graduated from the University of Baltimore in 1971 and returned to Palau in 1972.

Whipps started his political career in Ngatpang in 1982 and was elected to the Palau House of Delegates in 1984, where he served for 16 years. He was Speaker of the House from January 1993 to November 1996. He later served as president of the Palau Senate from January 2005 to April 2005, and again from April 25, 2007 to January 15, 2009.

He founded Surangel and Sons Company, which owns Ksau's Motors, Palau's Toyota dealer. In January 2008 he proposed a minimum wage bill that would apply to both Palauans and non-resident workers. He is a Seventh-day Adventist. After the DePaiva family murders in December 2003, he attended funerals in Palau and the United States, offering condolences on behalf of Palauans.