application, implementation or enforcement of company personnel policies
contemplated in Policy Instruction No. 56.Consequently, Policy Instruction No. 56 does
not apply in the case at bar. In any case, private respondents never invoked the
application ofPolicy Instruction No. 56 in their Position Papers, neither did they raise the
question in their Motion to Dismiss which they filed nine (9) months after the filing of
their Position Papers. At this late stage of the proceedings, it would not serve the ends
of justice if this case is referred back to a Voluntary Arbitrator considering that both the
AMOSUP and private respondents have submitted to the jurisdiction of the Labor
Arbiter by filing their respective Position Papers and ignoring the grievance procedure
set forth in their CBA.
After the grievance proceedings have failed to bring about a resolution, AMOSUP,
as agent of petitioner, should have informed him of his option to settle the case through
voluntary arbitration. Private respondents, on their part, should have timely invoked the
provision of their CBA requiring the referral of their unresolved disputes to a Voluntary
Arbitrator once it became apparent that the grievance machinery failed to resolve it prior
to the filing of the case before the proper tribunal. The private respondents should not
have waited for nine (9) months from the filing of their Position Paper with the POEA
before it moved to dismiss the case purportedly for lack of jurisdiction. As it is, private
respondents are deemed to have waived their right to question the procedure followed
by petitioner, assuming that they have the right to do so. Under their CBA, both Union
and respondent companies are responsible for selecting an impartial arbitrator or for
convening an arbitration committee;[30] yet, it is apparent that neither made a move
towards this end. Consequently, petitioner should not be deprived of his legitimate
recourse because of the refusal of both Union and respondent companies to follow the
grievance procedure.
WHEREFORE, the Decision of the Court of Appeals is SET ASIDE and the case is
remanded to the Labor Arbiter to dispose of the case with dispatch until terminated
considering the undue delay already incurred.
SO ORDERED.
Mendoza, Quisumbing, Buena, and De Leon, Jr., JJ., concur.
[1]
Rollo, pp. 34-35.
[2]
Id., pp. 49-50.
[3]
Sec. 3, par. (d), of EO No. 247, the "Reorganization Act of the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration" (24 July 1987) provides Sec. 3. Powers and Functions. - x x x x (d) Exercise original and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and decide
all claims arising out of an employee-employer relationship or by virtue of any law or contract involving
Filipino workers for overseas employment including the disciplinary cases; and all pre-employment cases
which are administrative in character involving or arising out of violation of requirement laws, rules and
regulations including money claims arising therefrom, or violation of the conditions for issuance of license
or authority to recruit workers x x x x