He won five gold medals, all in the rapid pistol event at the Southeast Asian Games. He won in the aforementioned event at the 1979, 1983, 1987, 1993, and 2009 editions. He did not win any gold medal in the regional tournament for 16 years until he won at the rapid fire event at the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Laos. By 2012, Padilla has competed 17 times for the Philippines in the regional tournament. He did not participate in the 1999 and 2013 Southeast Asian Games due to the non-contest of rapid fire pistol event in those two editions.