"[11] 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.

[2] Tordesillas and Santillan-Santiago had started out as reporters during the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos and then moved on to Ang Pahayagang Malaya and the Philippine Daily Inquirer, respectively.

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.

An investigative report on the links between poverty and corruption by Diosa Labiste, Luz Rimban, and Chua for Vera Files was co-winner of the 20th Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism in 2009.

[20] In 2020, Chua was given the Gawad Tsanselor para sa Natatanging Guro by the University of the Philippines Diliman for excellence in teaching, research, and public service.

[24] In December 2021, Vera Files, along with ABS-CBN News and Rappler experienced additional DDoS cyberattacks that appeared to have been politically motivated and possibly related to the upcoming national elections.

[36][10] In April 2018, social media company Facebook tapped Vera Files and news website Rappler to be part of its third-party fact-checking program in the Philippines.

The program, according to Vera File's announcement, "is in line with Facebook’s three-part framework to improve the quality and authenticity of stories in the News Feed.

[40] Rodrigo Duterte and members of his government like then Presidential Communications Operations Office undersecretary Lorraine Badoy-Partosa accused the two Philippine-based fact-checkers of Facebook of being biased.

[41][42] In February 2019, Vera Files joined Tsek.ph, the pioneering collaborative fact-checking journalist and academic consortium spearheaded by the University of the Philippines to combat disinformation.

[48] Signatories to the pledge included community and independent journalists, as well as Rappler head Maria Ressa and ABS-CBN News senior vice president Ma.

[52] Ina Alleco Silverio of Bulatlat and Elizabeth Lolarga of the Philippine Daily Inquirer received the First Chit Estella Journalism Awards, which were announced in December 2012.

[58] In 2020, Vera Files co-founder Yvonne Chua was given the University of the Philippines Diliman's 2020 Gawad Tsanselor para sa Natatanging Guro (Chancellor Award for Outstanding Teacher).

[59] In 2009, the Vera Files report "Quedancor swine program another fertilizer scam" by Diosa Labiste, Luz Rimban, and Yvonne Chua was given the top prize at the 20th Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism.