MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Former transportation undersecretary and University of the Philippines (UP) professor Primitivo Cal died at the age of 76.

The UP School of Urban and Regional Planning (SURP) announced his passing on Wednesday, April 8.

Aika Cal said in a message to Rappler that her father, who was battling lung cancer, died of cardiac arrest.

Cal served the then-Department of Transportation and Communications as its undersecretary for planning during the Ramos administration.

He was also a construction arbitrator accredited by the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission of the Philippine government.

Outside the Philippines, Cal worked as a traffic engineer in Southampton City in the United Kingdom.

He spent decades in the academe, as professor and dean of the UP SURP and UP College Cebu, as well as director of the UP National Center for Transportation Studies.

In the past, Cal had advocated for road pricing or charging motorists for using busy roads, as a way to disincentivize car usage and decongest traffic.

Cal was a registered civil engineer, transportation engineer, environmental planner, and lawyer in the Philippines.

He was also an ASEAN engineer, part of a registry of engineers in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to improve mobility within the region. – Rappler.com