Clarence Sriderio Rengulbai, a defendant in Civil Case No. 23-007, claims he is the rightful bearer of the Ngircheteet title of Koror and asks the court to dismiss the case filed against him by Koror’s House of Traditional Leaders (HOTL) for disobeying the traditional laws of Koror.
This will be the first case to test the new written traditional law formulated by the House of Traditional Leaders of Koror. It applies only to Koror State.
Koror State House of Traditional Leaders sued Mr. Rengulbai for claiming publicly to be Ngircheteet, a title that Koror HOTL said is already taken by Roman Yano, whom HOTL has accepted as their member according to traditional law and Koror State Constitution.
The lawsuit calls for a penalty of $500, payment of attorney’s fees, and court costs by Mr. Rengulbai for his alleged violation.
Rengulbai, in his answer to the suit, said he is the “proper bearer of the chief title Ngircheteet” and asked the court to dismiss the complaint and award him relief.