Early life and career

Drilon was born on November 28, 1945 in Iloilo City, Iloilo and is the eldest son of Cesar Drilon, Sr. and Primitiva Drilon. He took his elementary education at the Baluarte Elementary School in Molo, Iloilo, Iloilo and graduated in 1957. He finished his secondary education at the U.P. - Iloilo College in 1961. In college, he went to the University of the Philippines where he initially took up Bachelor in Arts in 1965. At U.P., he was the associate editor to the Philippine Collegian and served as councilor of the U.P. Student Council. Among his classmates were future politicans Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Ronaldo Zamora. In 1969, he completed his Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) at the U.P. College of Law. In the same year he took the bar examination and finished with the third highest score.

In the same year, he served as an associate lawyer to the Sycip, Salazar, Luna, Manalo & Feliciano Law Offices. He moved to the Angara, Abello, Concepcion, Regala & Cruz Law Offices (ACCRA) in 1974 where he served as a senior associate lawyer. He was elevated to partner in 1975, co-managing partner in 1981 and managing partner in 1986. He was also a Bar Examiner on Labor and Social Legislation in the 1979 and 1984 bar examinations. He also became the Vice-President and Governor of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) and the Vice-President, Board Member and Treasurer of the Personnel Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP).