Jose C. Blanco, SJ and Tess Ramiro of the Catholic civic group Center for Active Non-violence, met a few weeks after the revolution to discuss the establishment of an affordable Filipino-language tabloid newspaper that the masses can read.

Belmonte envisioned the paper to be reading public's "guiding star" by providing credible news and information, intelligent opinions and family-friendly content, unlike the usual smut featured in most Filipino tabloid newspapers at the time.

It caters primarily to lower income or masa readers in the country, providing them intelligent news and opinion with decent presentation, hence its motto, "Diyaryong Disente ng Masang Intelihente" (Decent Newspaper of the Intelligent Masses).

In 2015, the tabloid, along with its sister publication The Philippine Star, was among the print media acquired by entrepreneur Manny V. Pangilinan's MediaQuest Holdings, Inc.

[8] In 2013 and 2014, Pilipino Star NGAYON was awarded "Newspaper of the Year" by Gawad Tanglaw (Gawad Tagapuring mga Akademisyan ng Aninong Gumagalaw), an award-giving body in the Philippines composed of critics, scholars, historians, and professors from different colleges and universities.