MANILA, Philippines -- Makati Business Club (MBC) member and veteran stockbroker Vivian Yuchengco has called on MBC executive director Alberto Lim to resign from the association after he called for the resignation of two Cabinet members and for allegedly turning the association into a political party.

In a letter to Lim, a copy of which was furnished the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Yuchengco said Lim?s comments were not reflective of the sentiment of the members of MBC.

The MBC on Monday called on Environment Secretary Jose "Lito" Atienza and Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) chairman Romulo Neri to "save themselves from further shame by resigning from their positions in government." It also hinted that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should step down for controversies hounding the aborted $329-million national broadband network contract.

"We are supposed to be constructive, not destructive. We are pro-business, not pro-politics. We address economic and social policy issues, not incite treason or rebellion," Yuchengco wrote. "We work towards national development, not widespread destabilization. It goes without saying therefore that we hired you as a professional, not as an activist."

"If you would like to come out against the government, do so as an individual, not as the MBC. You are not the MBC. We the members are," Yuchengco said.

Yuchengco said that MBC -- a private, non-stock, non-profit business association organized as a forum for constructive ideas -- has always been a mix of pro-administration and opposition businessmen, which has been the case since the time of former president Ferdinand Marcos.

However, she added that at no time did anyone in the MBC force their "personal politics" on the members. She pointed out that the majority of the members had been consulted on critical issues.

"As members, we have a right to speak out when we feel that the MBC?s name is being used for personal and political ends. You cannot simply ask for my resignation from the organization but as a member, I can ask for yours. However I leave that to your pride and conscience," Yuchengco wrote.

Reacting to Yuchengco?s letter, Lim said in a telephone interview on Wednesday that he issued the statement calling for Atienza?s and Neri?s resignations with the blessing of MBC?s board.

"I would like to inform you (Yuchengco), that whatever actions I took were authorized by the board and the National Issues Committee of the MBC in an early morning meeting on February 11," Lim said reading a draft of his response to Yuchengco.

He clarified that neither he nor the MBC board called for the resignation of President Arroyo.

"I agree, with your (Yuchengco?s) statement that if I would like to come out against the government, I should do so as an individual.

?You misinterpret the board statement as coming out against government when it is not. The statement holds two people accountable for attempting to cover up the truth," Lim said.

"I am familiar with the objectives of MBC. This is why the MBC took a strong stand against the ZTE-NBN project since it is anti-private sector and anti-national development," Lim said.

Lim also said he believed he acted properly but if the board felt otherwise, he said, he was willing to step down.