Vice President Sara Duterte said the shortage of classrooms built during her term as head of the Department of Education (DepEd) was likely caused by her political disagreement with the administration allies.

When she was still the DepEd secretary, Duterte said, she did not allow congressmen to put under their budget the funds to build classrooms because she knew they would take advantage of it to secure votes.

"Hindi puwedeng kunin ng House of Representatives ang budget ng school building program kasi ikaw na congressman ka, ang prayoridad mo, dahil pulitiko ka, ay boto. Diba? (Members of the House of Representatives cannot take the budget for school building programs because, as congressmen, their priority, since they're politicians, is votes. Right?)," she said during the first episode of Ibalik ang Tapang at Malasakit, a sit-down talk where she discussed issues that hounded her.

"So, ilalagay mo ‘yung paaralan na yan, ‘yung classroom na yan, kung saan ka makakakuha ng advantage sa boto (So you will prioritize classrooms that you can get advantage from)," she added.

Duterte said she was telling congressmen that she was objecting to their plan. Instead, they must give the funds to build classrooms to DepEd, particularly to regional directors and school superintendents.

"Kasi sila ‘yung nakakaalam talaga ng totohan ng pangangailangan doon sa baba (They're the ones who truly know the actual needs on the ground)," she added. 

"Hindi talaga. Hindi ako papayag na babuyin nila ‘yung trabaho ng (I didn't allow them to make a mockery of the) Department of Education," she said.

It was one of the reasons Duterte gave in response to the shortage of classrooms across the country, although she said she was not aware of what they did with the money that was actually already allocated to local government units for building classrooms.

"Saka ‘yung pagdadownload ng pera sa local government unit para sa pagtayo ng mga classroom. Galing sa isang politiko, congressman, ibigay mo sa isang politiko, mayor, governor, anong mangyayari doon? Boto din, diba (And also the downloading of money to the local governments for building classrooms. The money just comes from one politician, a congressman, and then it's given to another politician, a mayor or governor. So, what's happening there? It’s also about votes, right)? " she said.

Duterte said she thought about what would happen to DepEd once she left the agency. But she did not want to agree with their proposal and sign what's not right.

"Kasi ganun na naman, tinanong ko eh, sabi ko, gano'n ba ‘yung gagawin last year, gagawin din ngayon? Sabi, oo daw. Hindi na, huwag na. Eh, kasi, pupirma ka doon, alam mong mali eh. Ayoko (It’s the same thing again. I asked them, 'Is that what was done last year, and it will be done again now?' They said yes. So I said no, never mind. I didn't want to sign their proposal because I knew it was wrong. I don't want to)," she said.

Duterte said she knew they would once again use the impeachment complaint to remove her from office.

"Tumitira sila, pero hindi nilang magawang ituloy yun. Kasi parang tanga naman kasi, kung ang president ka, inaatake ‘yung DepEd secretary mo, tapos biglang may impeachment sa DepEd secretary mo. So hindi mangyayari na merong impeachment (They wanted to attack me, but they couldn't because it would make them look foolish that they were attacking a Cabinet member of their president. So they couldn't do it and proceed with the impeachment at the same time)," she said.