President-apparent Senator Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III said the breed of Cabinet officials for the next administration will be a “mix of new and old faces, best and brightest minds.”

But Aquino did not name names yet, saying a “search committee” he has been formed in assessing candidates for appointment. He only said that appointees will certainly have to pass a rigorous selection process and his criteria.

“The first criterion has to be sharing the vision of what should be done in this country,” Aquino said, referring to his anti-corruption and poverty-alleviation advocacy briefly summed up in his campaign slogan “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap.”

Aquino also failed to name the composition of his search committee but admitted that “several of them are people I have really been thinking as the right persons for particular departments and agencies of government. They constitute the people who have my highest trust at this point in time.”

Aquino neither confirmed nor denied whether LP campaign manager Florencio “Butch” Abad, a former Education secretary and Batanes congressman tagged as a member of the “Hyatt 10,” or former Defense Secretary Avelino “Nonong” Cruz, a partner at the Villaraza Cruz Marcelo and Angangco Law Office popularly known as “The Firm,” will have a place in his Cabinet.

“Appointing members of The Firm remains a speculation at this point in time. Presently, I don’t think there is any member of

The Firm who is already being eyed for a specific slot,” he said, referring to Cruz and another The Firm stalwart, former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo.

Aquino had made it public that he has offered former Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman to serve in his Cabinet and reclaim her former post. Aside from Soliman, who has reportedly accepted Aquino’s offer and the position in the DSWD, Aquino disclosed last Thursday that he is eyeing Teresita “Ging” Quintos-Deles for appointment as Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.