De León was born June 11, 1947, in
La Huerta,
Parañaque, Philippines. He studied philosophy at Our Lady of Guadalupe Minor Seminary and theology at
San Carlos Seminary. He was ordained a priest on June 28, 1975, by
Manila Archbishop Jaime Sin. He served as an assistant parish priest of Santa Clara de Montefalco Parish in
Pasay for two years before he was appointed director of studies, then prefect of discipline and finally rector at Our Lady of Guadalupe Minor Seminary. He was later named as rector of San Carlos Seminary from 1986 to 1991. He was the parish priest of
St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in
Makati from 1991 to 1993, Holy Eucharist Parish in
Moonwalk, Parañaque from 1993 to 1998, and Archdiocesan Shrine of the Divine Mercy in
Mandaluyong in 2001. He became rector of San Carlos Seminary once again from 1998 to 2001. On June 27, 2007,
Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Antipolo and Titular Bishop of
Boseta. He was consecrated on September 1, 2007, by
Gaudencio Rosales, the
Cardinal-Archbishop of Manila; the co-consecrators were
Socrates Villegas,
Bishop of Balanga, and
Gabriel V. Reyes, Bishop of Antipolo. After turning 75 in 2022, de León submitted his resignation as Bishop of Antipolo as required by
canon law. On May 24, 2023, Pope Francis accepted de León's resignation and appointed
Ruperto Santos as his successor. ==External links==