Jr. agrees

way to go” in terms of addressing the challenges confronting the country.

“Well, you know the delivering of promises is a work in progress. It’s not something that you say, ‘It’s done. I finished it.’ This is an ongoing process,” the president said. He maintained that while his administration has achieved a lot, “there is still a great deal more to do” and it has to “work smart” and “work well.”

“And so yes, we have done a lot of work. I think we have seen many of the changes. We are beginning to u PAGE A2

IN an expected decision, the Supreme Court June 29 struck down affirmative action for college admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, saying the practice violated the Constitution’s 14th Amendment by discriminating against White and Asian American students.

But several Asian American organizations, as well as Black and Latino civil rights groups, condemned the decision, immediately mobilizing protests on the steps of the Supreme Court and holding press conferences throughout the day.

And the two Black justices on the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas and Ketanji Brown Jackson, went head to head with opposing decisions. Jackson recused herself from the Harvard case citing a conflict of interest, but did weigh in on the UNC case.

Colorblind?

Thomas argued that the Constitution aims to be colorblind. “Even in the segregated South

by HALEE ANDREA ALCARAZ Philstar.com

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed six pieces of legislation after one year into his term as the 17th president of the Philippines. However, only three out of the six laws enacted are part of the 42 priority bills proposed by his office’s Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council. What are these laws?

• SIM Registration Act (Republic Act 11934) Sen. Grace Poe, who sponsored the measure, said in a statement that this law has “adequate safeguards that will vouch for consumers’ right to privacy while ensuring a safe and secure mobile use.”

This was in response to a temporary restraining order filed by Junk SIM Registration Network before the Supreme Court on the law’s implementation. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and other groups also questioned the measure’s constitutionality, but the SC later junked the petition.

MANILA — Kai Sotto is officially listed in the Orlando Magic roster for the NBA 2K24 Summer League 2023 in Las Vegas.

After working out with NBA teams with Utah Jazz, New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks, it was the Magic who invited Sotto to play in the league’s preseason tournament. In an Instagram story, the Filipino center shared that he has arrived in Orlando to join the team.

Donning the number 70 in his jersey, Sotto will play alongside up-and-coming players and veterans under Osceola Magic coach Dylan Murphy, who will serve as head tactician in the summer tilt.

Sotto will also have a chance to share the floor with this year’s sixth and 11th overall picks of the NBA Draft Anthony Black and Jett Howard, respectively.

by GABRIEL PABICO LALU Inquirer.net

MANILA — A former lawmaker of Davao del Norte’s first district and pork barrel scam alleged mastermind Janet Lim Napoles have been found guilty of graft by Sandiganbayan.

The decision pertains to cases involving the appropriation of funds to a fake nongovernment organization (NGO).

In a decision from the Second Division posted in the Sandiganbayan website on Friday, June 30, former Davao del Norte 1st District representative Arrel Olaño, Napoles, and other co-accused were found guilty for

by ROSETTE ADEL Philstar.com

three counts of graft and three counts of malversation of public funds. Olaño, Napoles, and two other accused were sentenced to imprisonment of six to ten years. The issue involved the funneling of Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development (CARED).

CARED is one of the bogus NGOs that Napoles set up, together with her former right-hand man Benhur Luy, with the purpose of siphoning funds from a lawmaker’s PDAF to the organization.

MANILA — The much-talkedabout “Love the Philippines” tourism campaign unveiled by the Department of Tourism last Tuesday, June 27 is worth P49 million.

This was revealed by Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco in a televised interview with CNN Philippines’ “The Source” on Thursday, June 29.

“The process of procurement was done and initiated and the total cost of the entire study coming up with a logo and everything and the components of this branding campaign total to P49 million,” Frasco said. Last Tuesday, Frasco told Philstar.com that it was DDB Philippines that secured the procurement process. “There is no price that you can put to one's love of country. That being said, there was a bidding process that was conducted at which the winning bidder was DDB,” she said.

DDB created the “Love the Philippines” tourism campaign that replaced the eleven-yearold slogan “It’s More Fun in the Philippines,” adopted during the term of late Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr.

According to Bids Notice

going — rights groups

by CRISTINA CHI Philstar.com

MANILA — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos has yet to formally withdraw the policies enforcing Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, giving the world a “runaround” on the "war on drugs" killings and rights violations continuing under his watch, human rights groups said.

A year into Marcos’ presidency, human rights groups Karapatan and Human Rights Watch lamented the continued increase in drug-related killings and conduct of deadly drug raids that formed the blueprint of Duterte’s "war on drugs."

The groups also hit Marcos' silence over several human rights issues even as he continuously