Founding and early work Vera Files was established in 2008 by six prominent Philippine journalists who all specialized in investigative reporting: Ellen Tordesillas, Jennifer Santillan-Santiago, Booma Cruz, Luz Rimban, Yvonne Chua, and Chit Estella. Booma Cruz was a writer for
Newsbreak and program manager of the TV program
Probe Team. GMA and ABS CBN reporter Luz Rimban,
Malaya reporter Yvonne Chua, and
Pinoy Times editor in chief Chit Estella had all previously also held senior posts at the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. Estella's exposés with the
Pinoy Times were noted to have played a role in the ouster of Philippine President
Joseph Estrada. The original idea of Vera Files founding members was to establish a newsmagazine in the style of
George, a New York-based politics-as-lifestyle glossy which was active from 1995 to 2001. However, they decided to publish as a website instead, choosing the name “Vera Files” because they wanted the word “Truth” to be part of the organization's name. Interested in investigative and in-depth reporting, the founding journalists of Vera Files felt that accepting advertisements, which was the usual way Philippine media organizations earned their income, would result in a conflict of interest. Initially, they pooled their own money to pay for the new outfit's registration with the Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission, and then operated without a headquarters, meeting in restaurants and coffeeshops instead. Eventually, they decided to start looking for grants which fund press organizations. Labiste was also awarded the
Marshall McLuhan Fellowship by the Canadian Embassy. In 2011, VeraFiles founder Chit Estella was killed in a traffic accident in
Quezon City near the
University of the Philippines Diliman where she was teaching. The incident led Vera Files to take on a road safety promotion project, which was partly funded by the
World Health Organization. The articles were then published on the Vera Files website under the "Is That So?" section.
Freedom of speech advocacy In 2020, Vera Files, Center for International Law,
Lyceum of the Philippines University College of Law professors, Foundation for Media Alternatives, and Democracy.Net.Ph filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to declare the
Anti-Terror Law unconstitutional. The petitioners contended that the law "infringes on the right to
freedom of speech by making mere possession of objects and collecting or making of documents as acts of terrorism". ==Attacks on Vera Files and other media institutions==