Shah’s former aide becomes a Filipino

ANGELES CITY — This man went from being a trusted military aide of the late Shah of Iran to becoming the first ever refugee to be sworn in as a Filipino citizen.

Buick Bahador, 55, a former member of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi’s security and intelligence team known as SAVAK, renounced yesterday his Iranian citizenship and swore allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines before Angeles City Judge Philbert Yturralde.

Bahador’s Filipino wife Meladia, 59, and son Kyvan, 26, were unable to hold back their tears as Bahador signed his pledge of allegiance in the presence of officials from the Community and Family Services International (CFSI) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR), who initially helped seek refugee status for him 27 years ago as the Shah’s regime began to crumble in Iran.

"He was one of the few chosen members of Shah’s most trusted and personal military men due to his extra large build," the CSFI said.

Bahador said he has never returned to Iran since he left in 1979. For converting to Catholicism to marry his wife in Tehran in 1979, he faces possible execution in Iran, which became an Islamic state after the reign of the late Shah ended.

Before Bahador was allowed take his pledge of allegiance, the state prosecutor asked whether he had any link to terrorist groups, amid suspicions of the United States government that Iran has been supporting al-Qaeda.

Bahador said he did not feel offended by the question, saying: "I cannot be a terrorist since I have long ago embraced Catholicism." He is a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus in Mabalacat, Pampanga.

UNCHR deputy regional representative Henrik Nordentoft said Bahador has become the first Philippine refugee to be granted Filipino citizenship.

For the many friends he has earned here and in the neighboring town of Mabalacat, Bahador’s assumption of Filipino citizenship is as significant as his accomplishments in the local communities.

The CSFI noted that Bahador "rendered a lot of community service to the people of Pampanga displaced by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. The services ranged from socio-civic projects such as the establishment of water pumps or water systems, the transfer of technical know-how, such as teaching and training of out-of-school youths in building construction and electrical wiring."

CSFI legal officer Anna Ciscar said "he has contributed and achieved a lot for the welfare of the community that, in 1993, a resolution was passed by the municipal council of Mabalacat recognizing him as an adopted son of Mabalacat."

In the same year, he was elected president of the Rotary Club of Pampanga, which later awarded him as the year’s Most Outstanding Rotarian.

Bahador’s saga

After graduation from high school in Tehran in 1976, Bahador was called for military training. He later became a member of the Iranian army, serving as a member of SAVAK in charge of secret documents involving the group’s motor pools throughout Iran.

SAVAK was used by the late Shah, who had crowned himself King of Kings and Emperor of Iran in 1963, against opponents amid the growing suppression of democracy in the oil-rich Middle East country.

By the mid 1970s, the Shah’s reign grew unstable as the gap between the rich and the poor widened. In 1979, the Shah’s regime started to collapse following uprisings instigated by exiled cleric Ayatollah Khomeini, who espoused a populist ideology tied to Islamic principles.

The Shah, beset by advanced cancer, left Iran in January 1979 to begin a life in exile in Egypt, Morocco, the Bahamas and the US.

By the time the Shah of Iran arrived in New York in 1980, Khomeini’s supporters had taken over the American embassy in Tehran, taking 50 Americans hostage for 444 days.

The hostages were released only on the day that Ronald Reagan took his oath as the 40th president of the US in 1981. By then, however, the Shah had died in Cairo, Egypt on July 27, 1980.

In 1979, shortly before the collapse of Pahlavi’s reign, Bahador had decided to break away from the Shah’s rule. He married Meladia, who had worked as a babysitter in Tehran, in Catholic rites in Iran’s capital.

A few days after the marriage, he took a 20-day vacation leave and the couple flew to the Philippines a scant two weeks before Khomeini seized power.

While in the Philippines, Bahador learned that Khomeini supporters had taken over his house and confiscated all his property in Tehran.

Bahador’s mother, the only member of his immediate family left in Iran, sent him a message saying he was facing execution in Iran — not only because of his association with the Shah, but also for his converting to Catholicism when he married Meladia.

Citing his marriage to a Filipina, Bahador applied for and was given a permanent resident status by the Philippine government. He and his wife initially stayed in Baguio City and he studied civil engineering at the University of Baguio. He finished the course at the Araullo University in Cabanatuan City.

Surviving as a refugee

In August 1984, the Bahador couple borrowed $200 from friends and flew to Tokyo with their son Kyvan, where they hoped to make a living after applying for refugee status.

There, Bahador worked as construction laborer, then as a driver, struggling for survival on his meager pay. The Japanese government denied his request for refugee status for himself and his family two years later.

By this time, his Philippine visa had expired and he was denied entry into the country. The UNCHR intervened in his case, until Malacañang finally granted him a visa.

With small earnings from his work as a laborer in Japan, he established a variety store in Mabalacat and later went into the construction business.

Bahador decided to make his wife’s hometown of Mabalacat his home for the rest of his life. He filed an application for Filipino citizenship, which was granted in 2004.

The law, however, requires two additional years of residence in the country before applicants for citizenship can finally be sworn in as Filipino citizens.

The two-year prescription period ended yesterday, with Bahador being finally sworn in. "I’m so glad," he said after the oath-taking.

Bahador’s next endeavor is to bring to Mabalacat his 75-year-old mother, whom he left behind in Iran.