MANILA, Philippines -- First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo quietly slipped back to the country on Monday night as calls mounted for his wife, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, to resign over charges of corruption that also dragged him.

The First Gentleman returned from Hong Kong via Philippine Airlines Flight 307 at 9:18 p.m. as the country celebrated the 22nd anniversary of the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution, with calls for the President to resign and let justice take its course in making those involved in the allegedly overpriced National Broadband Network deal accountable.

Airport officials escorted him through the Presidential Lounge at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Centennial Terminal. He declined to be interviewed.

Arroyo was first implicated in the alleged kickbacks and overpricing in the NBN deal in 2007 when businessman Jose de Venecia III, a founder of the firm that was elbowed out of the project, testified in the Senate. De Venecia said Mr. Arroyo told him to "back off" the NBN deal. He also directly accused former elections chief Benjamin Abalos Sr. of actively brokering for the Chinese firm ZTE Corp. in bagging the contract and getting fat commissions from the deal.

The Senate probe gained fresh momentum with the explosive testimony of former government official and electronics engineer Rodolfo Jun Lozada Jr. who said Abalos worked for a $130-million kickback, that bloated the cost of the $329-million NBN deal. He added that Abalos regularly reported to the President?s husband developments in the NBN negotiation.

Both the First Gentleman and Abalos denied any wrongdoing.