Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa renewed his push for the passage of the measure seeking the restoration of the death penalty following the fatal killing of a mother and son by a police officer in Paniqui, Tarlac.

Dela Rosa, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, made the call as he condemned the action of Police Senior Master Sgt. Jonel Nuezca who shot to death his neighbor Sonya Gregorio and her son Frank during a heated argument.

The senator lamented the measure is still languishing at the referred committee up until today.

"Ayaw nila ng death penalty eh! ‘Yung ginawa ng pulis na (What that cop did was) cold-blooded killing (and is considered) double murder and a heinous crime na dapat ang parusa ay (that could have been punishable by) death penalty," Dela Rosa said.

"Pero hanggang ngayon hirap na hirap pa ring umusad ‘yung ino-author kung death penalty bill (But until now, it's very difficult to pursue the bill that I authored)," he said.

President Duterte had earlier pushed for the revival of the death penalty bill for drug trafficking and other drug related offenses.

Sen. Joel Villanueva, however, said he remains unconvinced on the need to revive capital punishment, saying reforms in the justice and law enforcement system need to be prioritized first.

"Nothing has changed, again I am open po to discussion and debates but you can only convince me if we have a working and efficient justice system," Villanueva said.