can anyone tell me if annulment actually exists in the Philippines?
Sassy,
not that it is all that important but in the majority of cases 'annulment' in the Philippines, is what in most countries is divorce. Thus, a person who gets an 'annulment' through the legal system is not free to marry again in the Catholic Church. However, a person who get an 'annulment' through the church can remarry.
Annulment, in most jurisdictions, means that a marriage never took place, albeit that it appeared to have. It is said to have been 'void from the start.'
The reasons for that are laid down in law but include, for example, a person who was 'married' by a person not authorised to do so, a bogus priest or judge, or where the marriage was not consummate (by having sexual intercourse) one of the parties was not mentally capable of knowing what was happening, etc. Thus the couple were never married.
As divorce is not allowed in Philippines, this is a way to get around the law, but, a rose by any name is still a rose !
