Ciriaco Calalang

Ciriaco S. "Acoy" Calalang ( – September 23, 2018) was a Philippine legal academic and politician representing Kabalikat ng Mamamayan.

Career Calalang was a university professor who thought law. He was a lawyer by profession who specialized in taxation. He also worked as a volunteer lawyer for the Department of Social Welfare and Development under secretary Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from 1998 to 2000.

Kabayan representative (2018) Ciriaco Calalang was a member of the House of Representatives for the Kabalikat ng Mamamayan (Kabayan) party-list. The group won two seats at the 2016 election which was filled in by Ron Salo and Harry Roque. Calalang was the third nominee and therefore was not immediately seated. Kabayan expelled Roque from the group on January 12, 2017, and sought Calalang as replacement as the next-in-line nominee. Roque disputes his removal but vacated his seat after he was appointed as presidential spokesperson.

Despite Roque's continued opposition, Calalang took office on January 20, 2018. He filed ten bills and eight resolutions. Kabayan also hailed him as a "champion of the rights of children". He also proposed the establishment of a Department of Disaster Resilience, with the legislation included in the priority legislative agenda of President Rodrigo Duterte. He died of a stroke in hospital on September 23, 2018, aged 67.

Personal life

Calalang had three adopted children. The biological father of the three children was a Department of Labor employee who got killed in an ambush. The eldest was only three years old at the time.