Overview:
The Supreme Court of Palau has officially dismissed a defamation case filed by businessman Surangel Whipps Sr. against Island Times and publisher Leilani Reklai. The court’s order, issued on October 23, follows Whipps Sr.’s decision to withdraw the lawsuit and acknowledges the newspaper’s reporting as a matter of public interest.
By: Bernadette Carreon
The Supreme Court of Palau has granted the voluntary dismissal of a defamation lawsuit filed by businessman Surangel Whipps Sr. against Island Times and its publisher Leilani Reklai.
In an order issued October 23, 2025, the court dismissed the case after the plaintiff moved to withdraw his lawsuit. The court ordered Whipps Sr. to pay a portion of the defendants’ legal costs and denied the defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment as moot.
The lawsuit was filed in October 2024, just days before Palau’s general elections, after Island Times published a story about leaked financial details from Surangel and Sons Company. The 225-word front-page article reported on the company’s statement condemning the leak as a privacy violation and quoted financial details from the leaked tax documents.
Court documents show that during his deposition on April 21, 2025, Whipps Sr., who owns Surangel and Sons Company and is the father of President Whipps Jr., stated he was “no longer suing” the defendants and had “withdrawn” the lawsuit. However, the case continued for several more months until the formal dismissal in October.
In its order, the court noted that the plaintiff “faced a high burden on his defamation claim” and acknowledged that Island Times “was reporting on an issue of public interest and doing so in a manner that does not immediately appear unreasonable.”
The dismissal ends the legal proceedings brought by Whipps Sr. However, a countersuit filed by Island Times against Surangel & Sons Company for defamation remains ongoing.
The defendants were required to mount a defense for approximately one year before the case was formally withdrawn.