This study diagnosed the institutional gaps hindering gender-responsive engineering within the public works pipeline of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). The inquiry evaluated the demographic readiness of the agency’s Gender and Development Focal Point System, analyzed their application of the Harmonized Gender and Development Guidelines (HGDG) Box 10 checklist, isolated operational challenges, and mapped societal impacts toward UN Sustainable Development Goals 5, 8, 9, and 11. Using a descriptive quantitative design, data were analyzed by pairing the Weighted Mean with the Sample Standard Deviation. Results revealed a clear implementation-capacity disconnect and a distinct “Thinking-Doing Gap,” where back-office administrative personnel dominated committee representation over marginalized frontline technical engineering groups. Furthermore, rapid turnover of novice members caused a recurring loss of specialized expertise. Consequently, high conceptual policy awareness failed to translate into physical outcomes, as severe baseline data deficits forced the agency to misallocate specialized budgets toward generic seminars rather than structural engineering revisions, ultimately perpetuating local commuter travel time poverty. To bridge these gaps, a 3-Pillar Institutional Enhancement Plan was proposed by establishing a GIS-mapped sex-disaggregated data hub, embedding decentralized HGDG technical review panels into engineering procurement gatekeeping, and stabilizing expertise through formal mentorship with tiered professional certification tracks. This plan provides a doable mechanism that transforms abstract gender policies into universally accessible public infrastructure.

Keywords: Harmonized Gender and Development Guidelines (HGDG) Box 10 Checklist, infrastructure procurement, implementation-capacity disconnect, thinking-doing gap, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA)