I can tell you that my own alma mater, which is an Ivy, but not HYP, gives affirmative action to Filipinos because as a group they are underrepresented in top colleges. Chinese are not given the same advantage.
Personally, I think it’s a good thing that my alma mater doesn’t lump all “Asians” in the same pot. Filipinos and Hmong are considered URMs. Indians and Chinese are not.
As a Catholic, I can also tell you that being an observant Catholic is a boost in admissions at Notre Dame. If your Filipino friend submitted a letter of recommendation from his parish priest, it would have helped. That’s not a matter of affirmative action.