Marcos to serve as agriculture chief amid food crisis fears

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has expressed concern about rising food prices caused in part by the war in Ukraine and said he will serve as secretary of agriculture when he takes office to prepare for a possible emergency. He and Vice President-elect Sara Duterte take office June 30 after winning landslide victories in May 9 elections. They will inherit daunting problems, including a coronavirus pandemic-battered economy, soaring inflation, unemployment and mounting foreign and domestic debt, in addition to longstanding poverty, insurgencies and political divisions.