Department of Foreign Affairs(DFA)

March 22, 2023 Dear Mr.Arevalo, Greetings! Thank you for your request dated Feb 20, 2023 03:26:51 PM under Executive Order No. 2 (s. 2016) on Freedom of Information in the Executive Branch. Your Request You asked for Number of Diplomatic Protest against China. Response to Request Your FOI request is approved. However, the Office of Asian and Pacific Affairs (DFA-ASPAC) only recommends the release of the total number of protests from June 2016 to 2022, which is 455 protests, instead of a breakdown. Please note that we are only able to provide some of the information you have requested because the type of diplomatic protests and other details are considered confidential and sensitive and falls under the inventory of exceptions to the right to access information, as stated in Section 1 (b)(i) of the Memorandum from the Executive Secretary on Executive Order No. 02 s. 2016 the following is exempted from FOI: “Privileged information relating to national security, defense or international relations such as Diplomatic negotiations are required to be kept secret in the conduct of foreign affairs.” Your right to request a review If you are unhappy with this response to your FOI request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response by writing to [email protected]. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made within 15 calendar days from the date when you received this letter. We will complete the review and tell you the result within 30 calendar days from the date when we receive your review request. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Office of the President under Administrative Order No. 22 (s. 2011). Thank you. Respectfully, FOI Receiving Officer FOI Officer