How is anybody to know you've ever been married, if there is no paper trail ?

First port of call now, when marrying in the Phils, is the British Embassy in Manila (been there done that myself ).

They have a website, where you can download the form to make an (necessary) appointment there to swear your Affirmation or Affidavit... depending upon whether you're religious or not. By doing this , you are actually swearing in front of an Embassy witness, that you ARE free to marry... which is the important thing.

This replaces the requirement for a CENOMAR (the cert of no marriage you used to have to get back in the UK, and take with you to the Phils). Your prospective bride WILL still need her Phils version though.

It might be worth emailing the Embassy, to ask what should be done in your situation.

I was divorced, and brought my certificate (decree nice, or whatever it's called) with me, to show both Embassy and Registrar in the Phils.

I suppose you could just state that you've never been married, let alone divorced.