Petilla was born on April 29, 1963, the son of politicians Leopoldo Petilla and Remedios Loreto. He finished his Bachelor of Science in Management Engineering at the Ateneo de Manila University, the same school he attended during his high school days. After finishing college, Petilla became a college instructor and taught Computer programming subjects in Ateneo de Manila University for five years. He also became an IT consultant to various multinational companies.

His business interests included the International Data Conversion Solution Inc. based in Mandaluyong, and Accudata, Inc. based in Tacloban City, where he is both president and chief executive officer (CEO). He is also the part-owner and consultant of Direct Data Capture with business offices in the United Kingdom and New York, and Datahold in London.

In the 2004 Philippine general election, he divested his shares in his private investments to make a bid for governor of Leyte. He won during that year's election, defeating Sergio Apostol, a three-term congressman and then Presidential Legal Adviser.

His first 100 days in office saw the drafting of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Leyte Provincial Investment Code of 2004. The code aims to encourage investors to locate in Leyte with the salient feature of getting a 100% real property tax holiday for 5 years.

Petilla also supported the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) in approving the application of the Provincial Government of Leyte to convert the 6.9 hectares lot at Barangay Pawing, Palo, Leyte, where the developed Leyte Academic Center is located, into the Leyte Information Communication Technology (ICOT) Park.

2007 elections edit

Petilla accepted the nomination of the ruling Lakas-CMD party as one of its candidates for Senator under TEAM Unity in the 2007 Philippine general election. However, only days after he filed his candidacy, he withdrew his name from the coalition, with Boholano actor Cesar Montano acting as his replacement in the slate.^[1]

2016 elections edit

In June 2015, he stepped down as Secretary of Energy to prepare for a senatorial bid. He ran for senator under the Koalisyon ng Daang Matuwid led by the Liberal Party (LP). His campaign centered on three major advocacies: energy, education and health. He failed to win a Senate seat, placing 18th out of 50 candidates with around 6.3 million votes.

Petilla is the son of former Leyte governors Leopoldo E. Petilla (1992–1995) and Remedios "Matin" Loreto-Petilla (1995–2004).^[2] He is married to Frances Ann Basilio, former mayor of Palo, Leyte from 2019 until 2022, and they have five children.^[3] His brother Leopoldo Dominico, also known as "Mic", was governor from 2013 until 2022.