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

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