Francisco B.

Icasiano

Most of Icasianos
essays were published in
periodicals under the
pen name of Mang
Kiko. He wrote on
various subjects, often
in a light vein

although there were

always deeper
implications in his
work. The essay, which
follows, deals with a
common Filipino
Characteristic.

- Is a reed-like plant of
the grass family which
usually grows near river
beds and in wide
uncultivated lands.

This quality of the

reed-like plant has
given the Tagalog an
idiom ningas-kugon,
burns like the cogon.
It burns fast and dies
fast.