The CA reduced the award of refund of placement fee to the respondents from P75,000 to P19,000, which was the amount substantiated by the petitioners. The petitioner PSRI filed a motion for reconsideration but the appellate court denied the said motion.[50] Dissatisfied, the petitioner filed this instant petition against the respondents, alleging that: I THE FINDINGS OF FACTS BY THE COURT OF APPEALS ARE CONTRARY TO THE FINDINGS OF FACTS BY THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION. II THE APPELLATE COURT DECIDED THE CASE NOT IN ACCORD WITH THE APPLICABLE DECISION OF THE SUPREME COURT [51] The issues for resolution are the following: (a) whether or not the respondents were illegally dismissed; and (b) whether or not the deed of release and quitclaim executed by respondent Navarra was valid. Ordinarily, factual findings of labor officials who are deemed to have acquired expertise in matters within their respective jurisdictions are generally accorded not only respect but even finality, and are binding upon this Court.[52] However, when the findings of the labor arbiter and the NLRC are inconsistent, there is a need to review the records to determine which of them should be preferred as more conformable to the evidentiary facts.[53] Considering that the CAs findings of fact clash with those of the NLRC, this Court is compelled to go over the records of the case, as well as the submissions of the parties.[54] Anent the first issue, the petitioner insists that the dismissal of the respondents was based on valid and legal grounds. Consequently, the award of salaries for the unexpired portion of their respective contracts, and the refund of placement fee and airfare was barren of factual and legal basis. We rule that the respondents dismissal was not based on just, valid and legal grounds. Preliminarily, it bears stressing that the respondents who filed complaints for illegal dismissal against the petitioner were overseas Filipino workers whose employment contracts were approved by the Philippine and Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and were entered into and perfected here in the Philippines. As such, the rulelex loci contractus (the law of the place where the contract is made) governs. Therefore, the Labor Code, its implementing rules and regulations, and other laws affecting labor, apply in this case.[55] In order to effect a valid dismissal of an employee, the law requires that there be just and valid cause as provided in Article 282[56] and that the employee was afforded an