VERA Files

VERA Files is a nonstock, nonprofit, independent media organization. Founded in March 2008, it is published by veteran Filipino journalists taking a deeper look into current Philippine issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”

Institutions

Pianist interprets Leos Janacek, Liszt’s opera transcriptions

Klyde Ledamo where he is at his best. He caught our ears first, then our eyes second when anesthesiologist-music lover Rene Luis Limjoco shared a YouTube video of Klyde Ledamo playing Czech composer Leos Janacek’s On an Overgrown Path, Book 1. It

May 13, 2023

Institutions

VERA FILES FACT CHECK: K to 12 is NOT abolished, 10th graders still need to complete SHS

Viral status updates circulated by several Facebook (FB) pages and groups falsely claim that Grade 10 Filipino students can now “directly attend college” after graduation as the K to 12 curriculum has been scrapped. This is false. The Department of Education’s (DepEd)

May 13, 2023

Institutions

VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Metro Manila NOT under Alert Level 3

A Facebook (FB) Reel currently circulating among thousands of netizens falsely implies that Metro Manila has been placed under a heightened alert level to combat COVID-19 transmission. The misleading Reel used an old news report. On May 2, an FB user reposted

May 12, 2023

Institutions

Answered Prayer – VERA Files

051223 Leila de Lima Acquitted 1/4 Former senator Leila De Lima acknowledges her supporters outside the courtroom on Friday, May 12, saying that her acquittal in one of the two remaining drug cases filed six years ago was an answered prayer. Judge

May 12, 2023

Institutions

VERA FILES FACT CHECK: NO ‘secret NATO bunker’ in Ukraine struck by Russia

A Tiktok video shared on Facebook (FB) is erroneously claiming that Russian forces destroyed an underground hidden bunker in Ukraine that belongs to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), allegedly killing hundreds of military officials. This is not true. One of the

May 12, 2023

Institutions

Can the U.S. invoke MDT if its vessel is attacked while aiding Taiwan vs China?

Number 14 in the United States and Philippines Bilateral Defense Guidelines, forged on May 3 during the official visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to Washington D.C, states, “An armed attack in the Pacific, to include anywhere in the South China Sea,

May 11, 2023

Institutions

VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Impostor DSWD page posts FAKE ‘ayuda’ for registered SIM card users

A Facebook (FB) page posing as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) uploaded posts claiming the agency is giving away “P5,000” ayuda (cash assistance) to those who have registered their Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards. This is fake. DSWD is

May 11, 2023

Institutions

Makabuluhang oposisyon kailangan sa demokrasya

Ano ang ginagawa ng oposisyon para maging relevant ulit? May natutunan ba sila sa pagkatalo sa nakaraang dalawang eleksyon? Pakinggan ang komentaryo ni Christian Esguerra ngayong linggo: Pwede rin pakinggan sa Spotify, Spotify for Podcasters VERA Files followers will be treated

May 11, 2023

Institutions

Why Leila de Lima was marked for assassination

Unafraid courage. No one else had that but Leila de Lima. Her 2009 investigation of the Davao Death Squad was dangerous and difficult, but she saw it as necessary. As the world awaits the promulgation of her case this week, Leila de

May 10, 2023

Institutions

VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Marcos muddles up question on depletion of Malampaya with Reed Bank issue

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos made an inaccurate reference to issues in the Reed Bank (Philippine name: Recto Bank) in response to a question about the impending depletion of the Malampaya gas field at an international leadership forum in Washington, D.C. STATEMENT Speaking

May 10, 2023