Holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Ateneo de Manila University and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines College of Law, graduating cum laude and Salutatorian in 1966. He placed 2nd in the 1966 Philippine Bar examinations.
Prof. Balane was a Professor of Law at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law and the U.P. College of Law, where he holds professorial chairs in both institutions, i.e., the Justice J.B.L. Reyes Professorial Chair in Civil Law at the U.P. College of Law from 1977 to 1984, the Chief Justice Ramon Avanceña Chair in Civil Law at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law from 1999 to 2003, and the Justice J.B.L. Reyes Professorial Chair in Civil Law at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law from 2003 until his passing. He was also a Member of the Corps of Professors, Department of Civil Law, serving as its Chair, at the Philippine Judicial Academy. He was likewise a lecturer at the U.P. Law Center, the Center for Continuing Legal Education and Research of the Ateneo Law School, and various other providers of the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE). He also served as a Member of the Board of Editorial Consultants, Journal of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.
Prof. Balane was an Examiner in Civil Law during the 1986 Bar Examinations. He was also a Member and Coordinator of the Civil Code Revision Project, University of the Philippines Law Center as well as the Faculty Editor of the Philippine Law Journal from 1973-1976.
Prof. Balane is the author of Jottings and Jurisprudence in Civil Law: Succession, (1998, Rev. Ed. 2002), which was a recipient of the Centenary Book Awards of the Supreme Court of the Philippines in June 2001, and Jottings and Jurisprudence in Civil Law: Obligations and Contracts (2018), published by Central Professional Books. He also edited J.B.L.: Ipse Loquitur: A Collection of Essays and Lectures by Justice Jose B.L. Reyes. Prof. Balane speaks English, Tagalog, Bicolano, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Latin.
In 2011, Prof. Balane joined SPCMB as of Counsel until his passing.