The man sits in his store at the public market in Davao City, southern Philippines surrounded by sacks, bags, and basketsful of charcoal. He hardly looks like the lucky entrepreneur who has made big money, but with prices of petroleum products hitting record highs in the world market and power rates continuing to soar, more and more people are turning again to charcoal as an alternative source of energy, in lieu of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and the electric stove. Will he be making a killing soon? (Bulatlat.com)

Photo by Arkibong Bayan

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