OTHER NEWS - Sept. 29, 1993

Pepsi to Defer to Courts: Pepsico, besieged by customers claiming cash prizes in a Philippine numbers game promotion that misfired, said it will leave the matter to a judge. Raul Contreras, a consultant for the Purchase, N.Y.-based company, said there are no ongoing negotiations for a settlement. More than 10,000 criminal cases have been filed against Pepsi by angry consumers who say it reneged on a promise to pay winners in a sales promotion. Last year, Pepsi launched a numbers game that would pay the holder of a bottle cap bearing the numbers 349 a grand prize of $35,700. But when hundreds of thousands of people came forward with the winning crowns, the company said the caps should also have a certain security number. It blamed a computer error.