The US Commission on International Religious Freedom, on its annual report, raised concerns about the worsening situations of minorities in China, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, Pakistan and other nations. Pakistan faced the most serious violations of religious freedom among any country not already on the blacklist. The commission warns that Pakistan could be subject to sanctions if the government continues to fail to protect Christians,  Ahmadis and Hindus." Report said, the lingering violence in the Shiite Muslim minority in Pakistan, commonly  use blasphemy and other laws to violate religious freedoms. In China religious freedom deteriorated notably for the Tibetan Buddhist, Uighur Muslims and the Falungong movement. In Myanmar, members of the Rohingya Muslim community were killed in religious violence.

Last year, Western Europe raised questions about the ban in secular France and Belgium on Muslim women wearing veils in public, the consistent secular treatment of Christians in Turkey, including a massacre incident at a Sikh temple in the United States. Acknowledging the minorities’ crisis is the first step of the solution to save the minorities and fight against fanaticism. The U.S. National Security pursue a strategy that includes reconstruction/humanitarian assistance, security and governance.

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Tidbits:

There has been a union call for action following a report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau showing a sharp increase in deaths and serious incidents in the maritime and offshore facility sectors in Australian waters in recent years.

The report found that between 2005 and 2012, 254 people were killed, missing or seriously injured in reported marine occurrences.

In 2012, 154 such occurrences were reported – over 50 per cent higher than the 2005 to 2012 average of 100 per year.

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 G.R.  No. 116354    December 4, 1997 HEIRS OF THE LATE R/O REYNALDO ANIBAN vs.

NLRC, PHILIPPINE TRANSMARINE CARRIERS,  INC., NORWEGIAN SHIP MANAGEMENT, INC. A/S, and PIONEER INSURANCE.  (Contributed by Atty. Fidel Borja)

On the award of attorney's fees which NLRC deleted on the ground that there was no unlawful withholding of wages, suffice it to say that Art. 111 of the Labor Code does not limit the award of attorney's fees to cases of unlawful withholding of wages only. What it explicitly prohibits is the award of attorney's fees which exceed 10% of the amount of wages recovered. Thus, under the circumstances, attorney's fees are recoverable for the services rendered by petitioner's counsel to compel Aniban's employer to pay its monetary obligations under the CBA. However the amount of P50,000.00 claimed as attorneys' fees in this case is the reasonable compensation based on the records and not the maximum 10% of the total award as granted by POEA. The reduction of unreasonable attorney's fees is within our regulatory powers.