attack on the Spanish garrison in the town of Paombong. He and ten other men slipped into town in the night and fell upon the cazadores in the basement of the convent during Sunday mass. Del Pilar himself was stationed in the plaza, firing at the second story of the convent to prevent any men from approaching from the windows. They were eventually able to capture 14 Mauser rifles. Other versions of the raid vary, however. Some tellings talk about how del Pilar and his men slipped into town dressed as women, while other versions have them disguised as cazadores. Del Pilar's success in Paombong caught the attention of Emilio Aguinaldo, who promoted the captain to a lieutenant colonel, eventually earning his trust and being let into his inner circle of confidants. Artemio Ricarte noted that Del Pilar's feat in Paombong “exalted him to the horns of the moon." Del Pilar celebrated his promotion to lieutenant colonel by creating a distinctive flag for himself and his battalion: a tricolor with a blue triangle at the hoist, red stripe on top and black at the bottom, taking cues from the Cuban flag. He first unfurled this flag during his participation in the Battle of Pasong Balite (modern-day Polo, Bulacan) in 1897. Due to his closeness to Aguinaldo, del Pilar became one of the signatories of the provisional constitution of the Republic of Biak-na-Bato in November 1897. When negotiations with the Spanish took place in the which concluded with the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, Aguinaldo took del Pilar with him to exile in Hong Kong. Second phase and the Philippine–American War The exiles in Hong Kong organized a Supreme Council, electing del Pilar to a position second only to Tomás Mascardo. Aguinaldo's confidence in del Pilar grew such that he wrote the following about him: When Aguinaldo was supposed to go to Europe, he took only del Pilar and Colonel José Leyba with him. The trip ended in Singapore, where Aguinaldo conferred with American consul E. Spencer Pratt, learning of the American declaration of war against Spain. Spurred by this, Aguinaldo and the other exiles decided to return to the Philippines to restart the revolution. After the Americans defeated the Spanish in the Battle of Manila Bay, Aguinaldo, del Pilar, and other exiled leaders returned to the Philippines. Aguinaldo named del Pilar Dictator of Bulacan and Nueva Ecija provinces, an