After finishing elementary school at the Minalin Central Elementary School, Panlilio enrolled the Don Bosco Academy, Pampanga his sophomore year after spending a year at the Don Honorio Ventura College of Arts and Trades (DHVCAT). Panlilio was in and out of several seminaries as he went through a long discernment process, and after finishing his theology at the St. Augustine Major Seminary was ordained priest on December 13, 1981.
