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MANILA - The local party in Cebu province will reveal who it will support in the 2022 presidential election after the November 15 deadline for substitution among candidates, Governor Gwen Garcia said Monday.

Cebu province has some 3.2 million voters. In 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte got a margin of 1.1 million votes from the second contender, said Garcia.

"As of now, One Cebu has come up with a pronouncement that we would only choose the presidential candidate that we would support well after the 15th of November. I think everyone’s eyes are fixed on November 15th since that is the last day that’s allowed for substitution," she told ANC's Headstart.

"We know that the situation is still very fluid, things could just change in a wink of an eye, so we would rather not come out with a definitive statement right now, lest we be caught just trying to correct ourselves," she said.

Garcia was photographed raising the hands of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and former Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr when the two visited the vote-rich province last month.

However, the governor said it was not her who was endorsing them as a tandem; rather, she was receiving their support for her re-election bid.

She said she had a dinner with Marcos and Duterte-Carpio at the home of her daughter, Liloan Mayor Christina Garcia-Frasco, who also serves as spokesperson for the Davao City mayor.

She thought of having the picture taken after she heard her rival, former Tourism Secretary Ace Durano, claim that he was Duterte-Carpio's candidate.

"I said maybe it would be good, pictures speak a thousand words, if I could have your endorsement by Mayor Sara raising my hand and I asked her that. Sen. Bongbong was also beside us and he said, ‘I’m also endorsing you.’ The reverse is true—not that I was endorsing Sen. Bongbong and Mayor Sara as a tandem; they were both supporting me as the gubernatorial candidate for the 2022 elections," she said.

She stressed that she's not saying that One Cebu is not supporting Marcos, but that the party has not yet come up with a decision. She said while she has a "personal friendship" with the former lawmaker, her party would have to come up with a consensus on who to support.

Garcia also noted that she has known Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso for years as well, but the party has not made up a decision on who to support.

"There’s history there, but again, sabi ko (I said), everybody is curious really but we cannot give a definite statement right now on who to support and I will always respect the decision of the party," she said.

Domagoso, fielded by Aksyon Demokratiko for president, was in Cebu last week as part of his "listening tour." Garcia said the mayor was photographed at the balcony of the capitol as it was reminiscent of her own speech there in 2012.

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She recalled that when she was suspended in 2012, there was a "huge rally" by her supporters and she stood on the balcony to speak about how the authority of government emanates from the people. Domagoso stood there during his visit because he subscribes to the same belief.

"Binalikan nya yung nangyari noong 2012 and he totally agrees because he’s also for local autonomy," she said.

(He went back to what happened in 2012 and he totally agrees because he's also for local autonomy.)

Garcia was suspended in 2012 by former President Benigno Aquino III, a known ally of Vice President Leni Robredo. Asked if this means she will not support Robredo's candidacy, the governor mentioned that they were colleagues in Congress in the past, but that the vice president's supporters had began attacking her this early.

"This is not the way to do it. Huwag naman kayo magalit. This is the capitol, we will receive anyone who goes here. That dinner was because my daughter invited me. Hindi naman kailangan na mag-aaway-away tayo," she said.

"I will always accord Leni Robredo the courtesy that she expects, that she deserves because she is the vice president of the country. If she would want to go to the capitol, we will all be here to receive her," she added.

Robredo defeated Marcos in the vice-presidential race in Cebu back in 2016. The son and namesake of the late dictator only placed third among candidates, behind Robredo and then-Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.