He completed his secondary education at Saint John the Baptist High School in Lagonglong.

He was ordained a priest on April 30, 1990, in Lagonglong for the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro.

After a year as associate pastor at the cathedral, he was, from 1991 to 1995, administrator of the San Roque parish of Catarman, Camaguin.

Cabantan was elected Bishop of Malaybalay on February 18, 2010, after the retirement of his predecessor Honesto Pacana, S.J., and was consecrated on April 30 by Edward Joseph Adams, then Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.

[citation needed] On June 23, 2020, Pope Francis appointed Cabantan as the fifth Archbishop of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro after the retirement of his predecessor Archbishop Antonio Ledesma and was canonically installed on August 28, 2020 by Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, Archbishop-emeritus of Cotabato.