Midyphil Bermejo Billones was born on July 4, 1969, in Panay, Capiz, a coastal town in the western Visayas region of the Philippines. He pursued philosophy at the St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary in Iloilo City before earning a master’s degree in theology from the Loyola School of Theology in Quezon City. In 2011, he was awarded a licentiate and doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
Billones was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Jaro on October 2, 1995, by Archbishop Alberto Jover Piamonte at the Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral. He initially served as parochial vicar at the Cathedral of Jaro from 1995 to 1997. From 1997 until 2001, he served as personal secretary to two successive archbishops, Alberto Piamonte followed by Angel Lagdameo, and simultaneously held roles as a member of the Presbyteral Council and vice‑chancellor of the archdiocese.
Between 2000 and 2004, he served as spiritual director, secretary and vice‑chancellor, and was deeply involved in prison pastoral ministry as part of the archdiocesan commission. He also led the Diocesan Youth Commission and acted as notary for the third Diocesan Synod (2003–2004). Returning from Rome in 2011, he became vice‑rector and director of human formation at St. Joseph Regional Seminary in Iloilo City, later advancing to rector from 2013 to 2019. During this period, he also directed the Archdiocesan Commission for the Laity and contributed to national seminary formation efforts, including being a member of the Ratio Nationalis editorial committee from 2017.
On July 16, 2019, Pope Francis named him titular bishop of Tagarata and Auxiliary Bishop of Cebu. He was ordained bishop on August 27, 2019, with Archbishop Jose Romeo Lazo as principal consecrator. In Cebu, he served on the Council of Consultors and was moderator of the National Shrine of Saint Joseph in Mandaue City.
Within the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), he has served as a member of the Commission on the Doctrine of the Faith and the Commission for Seminaries. Publicly, he has shared moments of personal struggle. He once spoke candidly about nearly losing his faith after his mother’s death in 2013, and how an image of the Virgin Mary amid Manila traffic helped him rediscover his faith and vocation.
On February 2, 2025, coinciding with the Solemnity of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Billones as the metropolitan Archbishop of Jaro, succeeding Archbishop Jose Romeo Lazo, who had retired at age 76. His appointment as the 14th archbishop of Jaro (seventh since its elevation to an archdiocese) was officially announced in the Vatican bulletin.
Billones was formally installed in a solemn high Mass at the Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral on April 2, 2025, presided over by Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Charles John Brown and attended by nearly 40 bishops and hundreds of priests. During his installation, Archbishop Jose Palma praised him, saying that the Lord chose him “to be the vicar of His love especially to the last, the least, and the lost.”