Budgeting 101: What is a Program, Project, or Activity (PAP)?
What is a PAP?
A program, project or activity (PAP) is any work process or group of work processes undertaken to realize the outputs and outcomes of an agency.
Department of Budget and Management (DBM)
This is represented by an item of appropriation in the national budget.
Simply put, PAP pertains to what the government does collectively, through its various offices, to achieve what it planned to realize during the year.
What is a program?
A program is defined as a group of activities and projects that contribute to a common particular outcome.
DBM
A program should have the following: 1) unique expected results or outcomes; 2) a clear target population or client group external to the agency; 3) a defined method of intervention to achieve the desired result; and 4) a clear management structure that defines accountabilities.
Below is an example of a program (red arrow) under the budget of the Office of the President of the Philippines (i.e., Presidential Oversight Program).
What is an activity?
Under the “Presidential Oversight Program” of the Office of the President are various activities (blue arrow) such as the following:
Activity 1: Issuance of Presidential Directives, Special Powers and Authorities, and Clearances;
Activity 2: Policy development and formulation on strategic Presidential interventions;
Activity 3: Oversight management on national security concerns;
And so on…
Technically, an activity is a recurring work process that contributes to the implementation of a program or sub-program [DBM] or in simple terms, an activity is what a government office does, in this case the Office of the President, in order to successfully implement its program and achieve its objectives.
What is a project?
On the other hand, as provided above, the achievement of the objectives of a program may also be in the form of a project. The DBM defines a project as follows:
A project is a special undertaking carried out within a definite timeframe and intended to result in some pre-determined measure of goods and services.
DBM
We cannot see a good example of a project under the budget of the Office of the President for this year so this time we provide as an example a project under the budget of the Senate of the Philippines.
In the above screenshot, an example of a project under the budget of the Senate of the Philippines is the relocation of the Senate or “Senate Relocation” with budget allocation of more than P2 billion.
Other common examples of projects are those implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways such as government buildings, roads, bridges, schools, etc. Other projects include airports, seaports, railways, dams, etc.
Is our explanation on PAPs clear?
Please let us know in the comment section if you need further explanations and examples on what PAPs are. Or, if you are knowledgeable on the topic, we would appreciate it so much if you will help us expound this topic further. Thank you.
Government Accountants, Budget Officers, Treasurers and Auditors’ Forum
