Tomas L. Cabili was born on March 7, 1903 to spouses Guillermo Cabili and Epifania Lluisma in Iligan, Lanao del Norte. After finishing his elementary education in Iligan City, Tomas went to Cebu to study at the Cebu High School in 1920, then transferred to Silliman University but came back to Cebu in 1922 to finish his high school at the Cebu Provincial High School.
He enrolled at the Junior College, University of the Philippines Cebu Campus where he finished his Liberal Arts Course. He took up Law at the Visayan Institute in 1925 and went to finish the course in Manila.
He was a staff member of the newspaper The Freeman (established in 1919 by Atty. Paulino Gullas) from 1924 to 1926.
He finished law in the Philippine Law School in 1929 and was admitted to the Philippine Bar on December 7, 1929. He became Instructor at the Visayan Institute (now University of the Visayas) for the Liberal Arts and College of Law in 1929 to 1930.
He was elected as delegate of the 1934 Constitutional Convention and he was the only delegate who did not sign the Constitution ratified on February 8, 1935. He was elected as member of the National Assembly from November 15, 1935 to December 30, 1945 representing Lanao del Norte.
He was elected as senator in 1946, making it to the top 12. Tomas was reelected in 1949 and served until 1955. He was the 4th Secretary of the Department of National Defense. He served as Cabinet Member from February 27 to July 1, 1945, during the presidency of Don Sergio S. Osmeña Sr.
He belonged to the Liberal Party, and was part of the group called the Little Senate that came at odds with the Democratic Group, the majority of the Senate when it reorganized the Commission on Appointments in 1951. The issue was the reinstatement of Senator Enrique R. Magalona. The case reached the Supreme Court and decided the controversy on May 8, 1951.
Tomas married a Cebuana by the name of Felicitas N. Pepito and they had the following children: Vismindo, Camilo, Fe, Fulgencio and Teodoro Delano.
Senator Cabili was part of the entourage of President Ramon Magsaysay, the plane they boarded crashed at Mt. Manunggal on March 17, 1957, where he died together with the President and 21 others.
In his honor, a town in Lanao del Norte named Linamon was renamed after him on April 7, 1983 by virtue of Batas Pambansa Bilang 365.