Aquino May Have Been Hit on Head Before Fatal Shots

A coroner testified today that Benigno S. Aquino Jr., the former opposition leader, may have been struck on the head just before he was shot and killed at Manila’s airport.

Dr. Bienvenido Munoz, a coroner for the National Bureau of Investigation, was the first witness to be called in the retrial of suspects in the Aug. 21, 1983, assassination of Aquino, husband of President Corazon Aquino.

The killing was among events leading to the military-civilian uprising that prompted President Ferdinand E. Marcos to flee the Philippines in February, 1986.

Prosecutor Raul Gonzalez asked Munoz, who performed the autopsy on Aquino, whether it was possible that the former senator had been struck on the head before being shot.

Munoz, the only witness today, said that based on his examination of the body, the answer was “yes.” He did not elaborate.

After today’s proceedings, Gonzalez showed reporters photographs taken during the autopsy on Aquino and said they indicated that the opposition leader had been hit on the head. He said experts, whom he did not identify, suggested that Aquino had been hit by a karate blow or blunt instrument.

The Marcos government claimed that Aquino was shot by Rolando Galman, who it said was a communist. Galman was gunned down moments after the shooting by military police escorting Aquino from the jet that brought him to the Philippines after three years of self-exile in the United States.

Twenty-five soldiers and a civilian were tried for the Aquino killing, and they were acquitted in December, 1985. But the Supreme Court ruled that the trial had been rigged by Marcos and ordered new proceedings.

The new trial, which began Tuesday, involves the 26 original defendants and 14 others. (Story, Page 10.)