In 2006, at a time where the fight against poverty was centralised at the international level, the government of the Philippines and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in particular introduced an extensive « social welfare » reform program. This article will analyse these social policy reforms through the study of two milestones in the Philippines : the adoption of an « official » definition of « social welfare » and the inclusion in the agenda of a Conditional cash transfers (CCT) program. It will specifically focus on the transnational rationale that drove the Philippine government to adopt a « social welfare » approach, broadly inspired by the views on social development prevailing at the time.