President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said he will stay as secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA) until structural changes in the agency are institutionalized.

"The problems in agriculture are very deeply embedded. This happened so many years before so resolving it quickly by bringing back the previous good system (in the department) will not be easy. That is why I am still needed there," Marcos told reporters in an ambush interview at the 48th Philippine Business Conference and Exposition of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry last Thursday.

His decision is backed by employees and other senior officials of the DA, said Marcos.

Marcos said this is also why he has yet to name a health secretary. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire serves as the Officer-in-Charge of the Department of Health (DOH). DMS