Brief Chat
K
oror — Debbie Remengesau is not your
ordinary first lady. On any day she will
tell you she loves her role as keeper of
her home, as wife to her husband, mother to their
children and grandmother to her grandchildren,
but she has often worked in the shadows of her
better-known husband, Palau President Tommy
Remengesau Jr. to change government policy, to
accomplishing several conservation victories for
Palau.
In March, Debbie Remengesau received the
Crans Montana Forum’s Prix de la Fondation
Award, “in recognition of her invaluable contri-
butions and leadership in conservation and ocean
stewardship for the future of Palau’s children,
through the Palau Legacy Project and the Palau
Pledge Campaign.”
The Palau Legacy Project and the Palau Pledge
Campaign are innovative moves created last year
by Debbie Remengesau and four other women to
make visitors to the country sign a promise pledg-
ing to respect the environment and aimed at curb-
ing ecological damage caused by booming numbers
of tourists. The “Palau Pledge” is stamped onto
visitors’ passports and must be signed upon arrival
in the country.
“We are not only doing this for the Palauans but
to reach out globally for other countries so they can
do their same in their country to save our oceans
and Earth,” Remengesau said.
While epitomizing the old adage “behind every
successful man, there is a woman,” Remengesau
recognizes her own power as a woman. In Palau,
she said, women have the power to select and
remove male titleholders. They have decision-mak-
ing authority in terms of matriline-controlled
property and wealth. With this power, women also
play a significant role in environmental conserva-
tion especially if the matter at stake is the future of
their children and the next generation, Remengesau
added.
She doesn’t believe that her role as the nation’s
first lady only carries ceremonial duties. “I make
sure I help him or influence him in his work in a
positive way. I make sure I help him make good
decisions for the well-being of the people he
represents. I don’t want to be sitting there, like a
lobster, looking pretty and not doing anything,” she
said.
The practice of conservation has been imbedded
in her since she was a child. The young Debbie
was taught by her parents and grandmother not to
take more than she needed. Remengesau shares her
husband’s cause and articulated that conservation
is at the heart of Palauan culture and her view that
tourists must be reminded to not destroy what they
Debbie Remengesau
Being her own woman
By Bernadette H. Carreon
came to enjoy. “We are friendly people, but there are very aggressive
tourists with no respect for us and our environment,” the first lady
said.
She said it also remarkable that the country’s leader—her
husband—is a committed partner in saving the environment. “I
want to say that Tommy suits me. I am his main supporter and
the balance in the family. I would want to say that as women,
you are the outrigger of the canoe, you are the balance not only
in your family but in the society and the community especially if
you are married to someone who holds a position and is a politi-
cal figure,” she said.
Remengesau — a classy, down-to-earth woman who naturally
radiates compassion and generosity — fulfills her responsibilities as
mother of four and a grandmother of five with much love and
devotion along with her role in the Palau Legacy initiative.
“Together we are strong,” she said when she received her
award in Morocco. “So, I encourage you to be inspired
by the women of Palau, who unite in times of crisis to
take a stand for
what’s right
and lead their
community.”
“I don't want to be
sitting there like
a lobster, looking
pretty and not doing
anything.”
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