This study investigated the relationship between social-emotional competence and work engagement of teachers in Carmen District, Davao del Norte. Specifically, it assessed teachers’ social-emotional competence across five domains: self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship management, and responsible decision-making, crucial for effective teaching. It also determined their work engagement in terms of vigor, dedication, and absorption. It further aimed to examine the relationship between social-emotional competence and work engagement and identify which domains significantly predicted engagement. Quantitative, descriptive-correlational design was employed. The respondents were 115 public elementary school teachers, with sample size determined using Tabachnick and Fidell’s (2019) formula, which recommends a minimum of 90 participants for studies involving five predictor variables. Data was collected using structured surveys and analyzed with weighted mean and standard deviation to determine levels, Pearson’s correlation to examine relationships, and multiple regression. The findings showed that teachers demonstrated a high level of social-emotional competence across all domains. Work engagement was also high in vigor, dedication, and absorption. A significant positive relationship was found between overall social-emotional competence and work engagement, with responsible decision-making emerging as the only significant predictor. Based on these results, teachers were recommended to actively engage in professional development and reflective practices to sustain social-emotional skills and engagement. School heads were encouraged to foster supportive environments, provide social-emotional learning training, and recognize teachers’ important contributions. Future researchers were advised to conduct longitudinal or experimental studies and extend the investigation to other educational settings to further explore the impact of social-emotional competence on teacher engagement.