A 2019 investigation by the international human rights organization Global Witness has raised serious allegations linking the Philippine operations of food giant Del Monte to attacks against indigenous land defenders in Bukidnon province.
The report specifically focuses on the February 2017 murder of Renato Anglao, a leader of the indigenous Manobo Pulanguihon community. Anglao was fatally shot in the head and chest while riding a motorcycle with his wife and five-year-old child, after a day of buying school supplies in Quezon town.
Connection to a Local Politician and Grower
Global Witness states that Anglao had been leading a group of 80 families in defending 300 hectares of ancestral land in Quezon town against alleged land-grabbing attempts.
The investigation found that for years, Del Monte Philippines had a business relationship with Pablo Lorenzo III who was a local rancher, pineapple grower and the vice mayor (later elected mayor in May 2019) of Quezon, to grow pineapples for the company. The Tribal Indigenous Oppressed Group Association (TINDOGA) accused Lorenzo of trying to seize their ancestral land for conversion to commercial farming, an allegation reported by Al Jazeera, even as he publicly committed to upholding Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
Del Monte employed Lorenzo as a consultant and continued its growership contracts with a company he managed even after public allegations of violence on his ranches surfaced, including a 2015 incident where one protester was killed and two others wounded.
Community representatives claimed Lorenzo had personally threatened Anglao in late 2015, telling him he would “regret it” if he did not stop his activism. No one has been prosecuted for Anglao’s murder.
A Failure of Corporate Due Diligence
The Global Witness report concluded that Del Monte Philippines “effectively failed to do adequate due diligence” before and during its contracts with Lorenzo, failing to identify the historic land conflicts and violence associated with his operations. The company stated to the watchdog that it was not aware of the community claims or the allegations of violence, and that it would have investigated had the information been brought to its attention. The company also said it ended its agreement with Lorenzo in March 2019 after learning he held public office.
Broader Context of Danger for Defenders
This case was presented as part of a broader, dangerous pattern in the Philippines, which was named the deadliest country in the world for land and environmental defenders in 2018. Global Witness and other reports have documented killings and threats linked to agribusiness, mining and logging projects across the country, often with impunity for the perpetrators.
Allegations Beyond the Philippines
These allegations in the Philippines are not isolated within Del Monte’s global operations. A separate, unpublished human rights assessment report from 2024 detailed “major human rights violations” at a Del Monte pineapple farm in Kenya, including several recent deaths and a decade of alleged violence by company guards.
While Del Monte Philippines is also known for providing benefits like free housing to its direct employees, the report underscores the critical challenge of ensuring human rights are respected throughout a global company’s complex supply chain.
Images from Al Jazeera / Global Witness
