Veracity of VERA Files

"Truth is our business". The tagline used by verafiles.org a website that produces in-depth reports on current events. Vera is a Latin word which means genuine, real or true, which sum up the main goal of VERA Files, to publish veracious reports.

Founded in March 14,2008, VERA Files is published by veteran Filipino journalists taking a deeper look into current Philippine issues. Yvonne Chua, Booma Cruz, Luz Rimban, Jennifer Santiago, Ellen Tordesillas, and founding trustee Chit Estrella who passed away last May 13,2011, are the journalists that constitute the board of trustees and main writers of VERA Files.

VERA Files contains not only current issues but also reports on relevant issues in the country, an example is the Human Right Case Watch, a project of VERA Files. Human Right Case Watch focused on media attention on a set of carefully selected cases from all over the country. VERA Files assigned these cases to local or national journalists who have established a reputation of reliability and credibility. With mentoring from VERA Files, these journalists produced a range of stories on each case. The stories were published by VERA Files and were syndicated to mainstream media outlets, including Yahoo! Philippines.

This project is a collaboration between VERA Files and select Metro Manila and community journalists to monitor and report on human rights violations, focusing on extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearance.

VERA Files intends to shine light on little known or forgotten stories of extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances, in the hope that such coverage will prompt official actions.

As the saying goes " the truth will set you free", VERA Files indeed set the people free, free from deception, for publishing such truthful and just reports.


links:
http://verafiles.org/
http://hrcw.verafiles.org/human-rights-case-watch/about-the-project/
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/224340/news/nation/chit-estella-awards-for-journalism-launched

Fourty-two year old mother died in a fire

A fourty-two year old mother declared dead on arrival at La Loma Hospital, after a fire blazed in a shanty community, in Manila this Friday morning.

Deputy fire marshal Jose Waling of the Bureau of Fire Protection said that the fire started in a shanty house of a family with three kids. The father left a lit candle unattended before going to his night work,leaving his three kids and their mother alone in the room. A neighbor smelled the smoke, and called the nearby fire station immediately.

Waling said that volunteer firefighters managed to pull the three kids and their mother out their house. At least  
three men and four women sustained minor injuries from the blaze, while two fire volunteers were rushed to the hospital due to suffocation. All of the victims were brought to the La Loma Hospital. The spokeswoman in the hospital said that the 42 yr.old mother of the three children suffered third degree burns and was declared dead on arrival,while the three children in critical condition with first to second degree burns. The father of the three children was in shock and can't be interviewed.

Waling adds that the damage to property was estimated at Php 5,000,000.