Ciriaco Calalang

Ciriaco S. "Acoy" Calalang (1950/1951 – September 23, 2018) was a Philippine legal academic and politician representing Kabalikat ng Mamamayan.

Ciriaco Calalang
Member of the Philippine House of Representatives for Kabayan
In office January 20, 2018 – September 23, 2018 Serving with Ron Salo
Preceded by	Harry Roque
Succeeded by	Paul Hernandez
Personal details
Born	Ciriaco S. Calalang 1950 or 1951
Died	(2018-09-23)September 23, 2018 (aged 67) Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Cause of death	Stroke
Nationality	Filipino
Political party	Kabalikat ng Mamamayan
Children	3 (adopted)
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Lawyer

Career

Calalang was a university professor who thought law. He was a lawyer by profession who specialized in taxation.^[1] He also worked as a volunteer lawyer for the Department of Social Welfare and Development under secretary Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from 1998 to 2000.^[2]

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 in January 12, 2017 and sought Calalang as replacement as the next-in-line nominee.^[3] Roque disputes his removal but vacated his seat after he was appointed as presidential spokesperson.

Despite Roque's continued opposition,^[4][5] Calalang took office on January 20, 2018.^[6] He filed ten bills and eight resolutions.^[7] Kabayan also hailed him as a "champion of the rights of children".^[1]

In January 2018, he and his colleague Ron Salo proposed to move the seat of government of the Philippines from Metro Manila to Davao City.^[8] He also proposed the establishment of a Department of Disaster Resilience, with the legislation included in the priority legislative agenda of President Rodrigo Duterte.^[7] He also proposed every August 12 be recognized as National Youth Day.^[2]

Death

Calalang was admitted to the De Los Santos Medical Center for surgery on September 17.^[9] He died of a stroke in hospital on September 23, 2018, aged 67.^[10]

Personal life

Calalang had three adopted children.^[11] The biological father of the three children was a Department of Labor employee who got killed in an ambush.^[7] The eldest was only three years old at the time.^[2]