Gov’t slams brakes on articulated bus plan
The government’s plan to implement an articulated bus service on Edsa to decongest the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) is facing a possible snag as a long-time private sector proponent of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System in the country alleged a potential intellectual property rights violation.
The articulated bus dry run, carried out on Edsa and partly being implemented by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, was declared a success with the government eyeing private operators to start the service by the time school opens in June this year.
The plan, however, is being opposed by the Philtrak Group of businessman and inventor Francis Yuseco Jr., the patent and copyright holder of the BRT system, according to May 8 letter from Yuseco’s legal counsel, the Saguisag Law Firm. The Inquirer has obtained a copy of the letter.
The document, addressed to LTFRB chair Winston Ginez, noted that the trial run conducted on May 7 for an articulated bus to travel along dedicated priority lanes with fixed loading and unloading stations “appears to approximate the operations of an exclusive track-based transit system.”
“It behooves us to let you know, that such move shall infringe upon the intellectual property rights of Inventor Francis R. Yuseco Jr. under Republic Act No. 8293, including the severe criminal and civil liabilities imposed to violations thereof,” a portion of the letter read.
“Francis Yuseco extends his utmost willingness and cooperation to meet at your earliest convenience to discuss these matters more thoroughly with you and your staff,” the letter noted. “In the meantime, we advise you from desisting in conducting further tests without his expressed and written consent.”
Ginez declined to comment over the weekend, saying he has yet to receive the letter from Yuseco’s group.
The use of bus units using priority lanes with fixed loading areas “was already recognized as intellectual property rights of Mr. Yuseco under Philippine Copyright R-4656” since 1989, according to Yuseco.
Yuseco’s group has been unsuccessful in moving the BRT project forward, especially given the current administration’s bias against unsolicited proposals, as opposed to a so-called open and transparent bidding process.
In line with this, the Department of Transportation and Communications turned down proposals last year by Philtrak, which noted that these were a viable and cheaper replacement to money-losing elevated railways.
The rejection prompted the filing of a petition for mandamus, which called for a halt to the planned P65-billion extension of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 extension to Cavite and the P62-billion Metro Rail Transit Line 7, which will extend the MRT-3 to Bulacan province.
Philtrak argued that its “subsidy-free” BRT projects, as an alternative to railways, would save billions of pesos in subsidies allotted to existing mass railways in Metro Manila, which require government support to continue operations.
It also asked the high court to compel respondents, which include the officials of the DOTC, Department of Finance and the Department of Budget and Management, to act on its unsolicited BRT proposals.
