MANILA -- Philippine President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday that he will head the country's agriculture department as he seeks to revamp the sector amid rising food prices and possible shortages.

Marcos will assume office on June 30, at a time when the Southeast Asian nation of 110 million people is grappling with soaring commodity prices.

Marcos said he met with his economic team and they are forecasting "a shortage or increase in food prices in the next quarters because of outside forces" such as the Ukraine war, which has strained global supply chains.

"As to agriculture, the problem is severe enough that I have decided to take on the portfolio of Secretary of Agriculture, at least for now," Marcos said in a televised news conference.

He said he would continue in the position "at least until we can reorganize the Department of Agriculture in the way that will make it ready for the next years to come."

It's rare for a president to concurrently head a department, but Marcos said he is putting "high priority" on agriculture, which he described as "critical or foundational" part of the country's "economic transformation."

"We are going back to basics and we will rebuild the value chain of agriculture," Marcos said, vowing to restructure the department to make it "more responsive to the global situation now."

The Philippines' agriculture sector contributes around a tenth of gross domestic product, but it employs around a quarter of the country's workforce.

The government in recent years has ramped up imports of rice, meat and fish to compensate for domestic shortfalls and to counter inflation.

Marcos said his government will try to increase agricultural production. He also noted that Thailand and Vietnam, the Philippines' key sources of rice, have restricted exports. "We have to compensate for that by increasing production here in the Philippines," Marcos said.

Last month, Marcos said he favored a further review of the Philippines' ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, saying the local agricultural sector may not be "sufficiently robust to take on the competition."