FILIPINA SAVES 6 KIDS FROM FIRE IN NEW YORK  

27 February 2007 – Consul General Cecilia B. Rebong of the Philippine Consulate General in New York reported to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo that a Filipina saved her employer’s 4 young children and their 2 friends from a raging house fire in Stowe , Vermont and received $25,000 gift from her wealthy employers for the selfless act.  

Negros-born Hazel Reposo, together with her employers, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Wood and their children, went to the Consulate to acquire a new Philippine passport since the old one was lost in the fire together with her other belongings. She then reported the incident to the Consulate and to the Filipino Reporter, a local newspaper.  

Reposo recalled that one of the children told her of the fire coming out of the garage door of the 4,500 sq. ft. luxury home that was made of wood. “The fire alarm went off, and I immediately ordered the children to abandon the house. I called up 911 on my mobile phone and then my employers,” she narrated.  

Mr. and Mrs. Wood acknowledged her heroism and her quick thinking, saying they will be “forever grateful” to her. “The $25,000 was not a reward but was meant for the education of Hazel’s son. She took care of our most precious possessions – our children,” they said.  

Consul General Rebong also reported that Reposo, 30, worked as a nanny since November 2003. Though a Business Management graduate of the University of Negros Occidental-Recolectos , she left the country for her 5-year old son’s sake to work in Bermuda together with her parents and 2 siblings.  

Her heroism was published in an article entitled “$25,000 reward for Filipina nanny who saved 6 kids,” in the February 23-March 1, 2007 issue of the Filipino Reporter, a New York-based newspaper. END

/jay

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