The PhD research traces the evolution of gender equality policies in the Philippines. While the country is a forerunner in Southeast Asia in terms of enacting gender policies in the spheres of political participation, gender budgeting and violence against women, reproductive health rights are highly contested and abortion and divorce remain prohibited. Finding the origin of these diverging policy developments is the aim of this research. In contrast to prevailing scholarship that examines the Philippines' gender policy terrain through the impact of international norms, this thesis adopts the theoretical lens of historical institutionalism and shifts the investigation to the domestic level. Through the application of in-depth process tracing, it sheds new light to the puzzle. Based on the empirical findings, the thesis posits that continuous competition of the Philippine Catholic Church and the state has shaped the archipelago's diverging policy arenas with regards to gender equality.