Fr Zabala was born on 15 January 1965 in La Paz, Bolivia. He carried out his novitiate at Santa Eulalia, Peru, made his first religious profession on February 12, 1985 and perpetual profession on January 31, 1992, in La Paz. On 24 September 1994, he was ordained a priest in La Paz-El Alto.
He was Vicar of the "Paul VI" Theologate community of Cochabamba (1998-99), Director of the "Don Bosco" Institute of the same city (1999-2005), and since 2017 he has held the position of Vicar of the "Don Bosco Institute" of La Paz.
For the BOL Province he was Secretary (1997-99), Councilor (1999-2002 and 2017 - ongoing), Vicar (2002-2005) and Delegate for Provincial Services-Educational Centres (2004-2005).
He has already held the position of Provincial of the BOL Province in 2005-2011.
