The research aimed to assess the domains of teachers’ empowerment, administrative support, and the sustainability of research in the identified Secondary Schools of South District, Mandaue City Division, during the school year 2025-2026, as a basis for the Research Capability Program. The essential demographics of the respondents were gathered and analyzed using frequency counts. The level of empowerment or support across the indicated domains was analyzed using a weighted mean, while significant relationships were analyzed using Pearson's r. Data revealed that most of the respondents of the study were 26-30 and 36 years old and above, female, married, Bachelor’s Degree with Master’s Units, 7 years and above teaching experience, 51 hours and above relevant trainings/seminars attended, no action research made, and for those who did school-based action research, they were more of quantitative type. As for the level of empowerment, it was found that teachers were Empowered in terms of teacher empowerment, management support, and sustaining strategies, while results revealed Supported in the professional development and impact dimensions. Furthermore, it was found that the relationship between teachers’ empowerment, management support, and sustaining strategies is Not Significant. The relationship between the perceived teachers’ empowerment and the professional development and impact dimension is also Not Significant. The study's findings reveal that teachers see themselves as capable of participating in action research and recognize the support systems in their schools that enable them to conduct research-related activities. Despite these positive findings, maintaining the research process and further developing the inquiry-based culture in basic education are continuous, strategic endeavors. It is, therefore, imperative that the Department of Education pay close attention to the problems and barriers identified in the study, including the allocation of time, access to the necessary resources, and the replication and implementation of completed research projects. Thus, the study's output, the Research Capability Program, is recommended for use as a management strategy to sustain school-based action research.